Opinion ID: 878568
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the district court's jurisdiction over the wrongful death claim

Text: There is no question that this portion of the appeal is properly before this Court, as appellants' notice of appeal unquestionably protects review of the settlement issue. We therefore consider the merits of appellants' argument. The personal representative of the decedent clearly has a prior right to pursue a wrongful death action on behalf of the heirs, in order to avoid the diseconomies and confusion caused by a plethora of lawsuits. State ex rel. Carroll v. District Court (1961), 139 Mont. 367, 364 P.2d 739. This rule was recently reaffirmed in State ex rel. Palmer v. District Court (Mont. 1980), 619 P.2d 1201, 38 St.Rep. 1876. Thus, respondent was within her rights to pursue the wrongful death action against Blain Helicopters. At stake, however, is the disposition of the settlement of that claim. In Swanson v. Champion International Corp., (Mont. 1982), 646 P.2d 1166, 1169, 39 St.Rep. 639, 642, we emphasized that, while the proceeds of any survivorship recovery or settlement belong to the decedent's estate, the proceeds of any wrongful death recovery or settlement are personal to the heirs and are not part of the decedent's estate. From this, appellants infer that the trial court in which the claim was filed, and not the court considering the probate of the decedent's estate, has jurisdiction over approval of any proposed distribution of the recovery or settlement. Appellant notes references in Swanson, supra, to the trial court allocating the money damages resulting from a wrongful death award, 646 P.2d at 1171, 39 St.Rep. at 644. Carroll, supra, can also be fairly read to support appellants' inference. 139 Mont. at 372, 364 P.2d at 741-2 (reference to district court hearing the wrongful death action and that court's duty to allocate amount of recovery). Notwithstanding the reasonableness of these observations, more is required to support appellants' position than dicta and inferences arising therefrom. A proper resolution of this portion of the appeal requires a historical analysis of the wrongful death cause of action and its subsequent construction by the courts. Most wrongful death statutes are patterned after the original English law, Lord Campbell's Act, 1846, 9 & 10 Vict., ch. 93. The Act created a claim for relief for the heirs of an individual whose death was the result of wrongful action or neglect, with any damages obtained being personal to those heirs. Montana adopted the Act in 1871 with only minor changes in wording. 1871 Mont.Terr.Laws 61. A streamlined version of the Act, patterned after Cal.Civ.Proc. Code Section 377, replaced the original version six years later. 1877 Mont.Terr.Laws, Code of Civil Procedure, Section 14 at 42. The streamlined statute, which has remained virtually unchanged since 1877, and is now enumerated Section 27-1-513, MCA, does not specify whether the estate or the heirs directly benefit from any recovery. Any uncertainty as to whether the proceeds of any recovery or settlement are personal to the heirs has been settled by courts in other jurisdictions. In In re Riccomi's Estate (1921), 185 Cal. 458, 197 P. 97, the California Supreme Court construed Cal.Civ.Proc.Code, Section 377, which then contained the same language as now appears in Section 27-1-513, MCA. The California court held that:  It is well settled that the action authorized by the section is one solely for the benefit of the heirs by which they may be compensated for the pecuniary loss suffered by them by reason of the loss of their relatives. The money recovered constitutes no part of the estate of the deceased, and where the action is brought or the money recovered by the personal representative of the deceased, such personal representative is acting solely as a statutory trustee for the benefit of the heirs on account of whom the recovery is had. (Emphasis added.) 185 Cal. at 460-61, 197 P. at 98. Furthermore, because the proceeds were not part of the estate, a lower court, sitting in its capacity as a court of probate, had no jurisdiction over those proceeds of their distribution. 185 Cal. at 463-64, 197 P. at 99. Courts in other states having some version of Lord Campbell's act on their books have adhered to the same course of reasoning and have concluded that separate probate courts or district courts acting as probate courts lack jurisdiction to approve settlement of, or allocate the proceeds of, wrongful death claims. See, e.g., In re Milliman's Estate (1965), 2 Ariz. App. 155, 406 P.2d 873, reaff'd as modified, 2 Ariz. App. 338, 409 P.2d 54; In re Mayer's Estate (1909), 106 Minn. 484, 119 N.W. 217; Aho v. Republic Iron & Steel Co. (1908), 104 Minn. 322, 116 N.W. 590; Ellenberg v. Arthur (1936), 178 S.C. 490, 183 S.E. 306. Some courts have reached the opposite conclusion, but these decisions are distinguishable, as the wrongful death statutes construed in those cases contain express provisions requiring that the proceeds of any recovery or settlement be allocated directly to the decedents estate, e.g., Keogh v. City of Bridgeport (1982), 187 Conn. 53, 444 A.2d 225, or according to intestacy statutes, e.g., Holmes v. Price (1960), 186 Kan. 623, 352 P.2d 5. Washington has construed its wrongful death statute, which is essentially similar to Montana's, as requiring apportionment of proceeds by a probate court. Hansen v. Stimson Mill Co. (1936), 195 Wash. 621, 81 P.2d 855. This opinion, however, is of dubious value. It is not clear what authority the Washington court relies on for its holding. Strangely enough, that portion of the opinion contains a reference to Riccomi's Estate, supra, which held otherwise. See Hansen, 195 Wash. 621, 81 P.2d at 856. And, the Hansen opinion has been criticized recently by some members of the Washington high court as an improper holding. See, e.g., Wood v. Dunlop (1974), 83 Wash.2d 719, 521 P.2d 1177, 1180-81 (Finley, J., concurring). On the basis of the analysis above, it would appear that the district court in the immediate case exceeded the bounds of its jurisdiction and should be reversed. It would be inappropriate, however, to draw that conclusion immediately. None of the cases which support appellants' position clearly articulate an unambiguous rationale for denying a probate court the authority to apportion proceeds of a wrongful death recovery. Possibly, the rationale may lie in preserving some distinct jurisdictional differences between separate courts. If so, it is unclear whether this distinction has been carried over into modern courts. Respondent makes a reasoned argument that the provisions of the Uniform Probate Code, as adopted in Montana, contemplate allowing a district court, sitting in probate, to assume jurisdiction of the settlement of a wrongful death claim for reasons of judicial economy. Specifically, respondent relies upon Section 72-1-202(2), MCA, (Unif. Probate Code Section 1-302), which gives the court authority to make orders, judgments, and decrees and take all other action necessary and proper to administer justice in the matters which come before it. (Emphasis added.) Respondent also cites Section 72-3-605, MCA (Unif.Probate Code Section 3-704), which allows the personal representative to invoke the jurisdiction of the court, in proceedings authorized by this code, to resolve questions concerning the estate or its administration. Finally, respondent notes that Section 72-1-102, MCA (Unif.Probate Code Section 1-102) requires a liberal construction of all provisions of the probate law. From these, respondent argues that she was acting within her authority to submit her proposed settlement to the District Court supervising her administration of the estate, and that the court was in turn authorized to consider the settlement offer and apportion the proceeds among the heirs. Respondent's construction of the probate laws admittedly possesses a certain logic. Yet no other state that has adopted these provisions of the Uniform Probate Code has construed them in the direction urged by respondent and followed by the district court. See Annot., Unif. Prob.Code Sections 1-102, 1-302, 3-704, 8 U.L.A. 24, 38, 321 (1983) (annotations of cases construing code sections in uniform code states). Moreover, the code was not designed to replace all principles of probate law in effect prior to adoption of the code. Indeed, Section 72-1-104, MCA, provides that [u]nless displaced by the particular provisions of this code, the principles of law and equity supplement its provisions. There is no provision in the code specifically authorizing a probate court to treat the proceeds of a wrongful death settlement or recovery as part of a decedent's estate and hence authorizing the court to allocate the proceeds. Arguably, then, the traditional rule enunciated by the California court and other state courts still applies notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 72-1-202(2) and 72-3-605. Similarly, a fair reading of the previously cited code sections in light of the traditional rule suggests that they cannot be construed to reach a wrongful death award. Section 72-1-202(2) is preceded by language that a probate court has subject matter jurisdiction over estates of decedents. See Section 72-1-202(1)(a), MCA. Section 72-3-605 only authorizes the personal representative to invoke the probate court's jurisdiction to resolve matters pertaining to the decedent's estate. Because the proceeds of the wrongful death recovery or settlement are not considered part of the estate under the traditional rule, these sections of the probate code cannot be relied upon to vest the court with jurisdiction. In summary, it is possible that the drafters of the uniform code never contemplated superseding the traditional rule in the way suggested by respondent. The law of wrongful death and the law of probate have developed separately through the years, and while the reasons for requiring separate treatment of the damages obtained in a wrongful death action have not always been clearly expressed, it is still uncertain whether this separate treatment should be abolished. Obviously, if both the probate and wrongful death actions had been filed in the same judicial district, the court would have had no legal difficulty in asserting jurisdiction over both proceedings, although the court in Riccomi's Estate, supra, also held that, while one court could assume jurisdiction over both actions, it would have to handle them separately. 185 Cal. at 464, 197 P. at 99. See also 55 Cal.Jur.2d Wrongful Death Section 31, at 428. Here, where the two actions were filed in different judicial districts, the district court acting in probate undoubtedly exercised jurisdiction not intended by the traditional rule when it assumed authority over the settlement offer, approved it, and then ordered dismissal of the personal representative's wrongful death action filed in the other judicial district. In concluding that the district court exceeded its jurisdiction, we are not ignoring the potential economies of allowing a district court acting in probate to assume the task of settling a related matter such as a wrongful death claim filed in another judicial district. As noted earlier, however, the decision to grant district courts that authority is one made by legislatures. See Keogh, supra; Holmes, supra. We leave it to the Montana legislature to decide whether district courts, acting in their probate jurisdiction, should have some kind of authority over wrongful death claims filed in other judicial districts.