Court Opinion

ID: 9893916
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-30 21:04:22.65218+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:07:01.184666
License: Public Domain

IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

    IMO THE ESTATE OF                        )
    THELMA L. TAYLOR                         )    ROW Folio No. 179101 DM-SEM

                                         ORDER

           WHEREAS, on October 26, 2021, Doreen M. Taylor (the “Personal

Representative”) was issued letters of administration for the estate of her mother

Thelma L. Taylor (the “Decedent”); 1 the Personal Representative was required to

file an inventory of the estate on or before January 26, 2022 and a first accounting

by October 26, 2022; 2

           WHEREAS, the Personal Representative filed her first inventory on or around

April 11, 2022, to which the other heir of the estate (Dana Taylor, the “Exceptant”)

filed exceptions (the “Exceptions”); 3

           WHEREAS, the Exceptions were heard on March 8, 2023; 4 on March 15,

2023, I issued an order directing the Personal Representative to file an amended

inventory within thirty (30) day; 5 specifically, the amended inventory needed to

include (1) the date-of-death value of the vehicle and bank account at issue and (2)

1
    Docket Item (“D.I”.) 1.
2
    Id.
3
    D.I. 6, 7.
4
    D.I. 18.
5
    D.I. 19.

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an itemized list of the Decedent’s personal property; 6 I explained that the itemized

list should include furniture, appliances, tools, and other personalty which were

owned by the Decedent at the time of her death and the Personal Representative’s

estimation of the fair market value of those items; 7 I overruled the remaining

concerns in the Exceptions as irrelevant to the inventory; 8 such was, however,

without prejudice, should the Exceptant wish to renew these challenges if and as

appropriate in connection with later filings, such as the Personal Representative’s

accounting(s); 9

          WHEREAS, the amended inventory was due April 13, 2023; no such

document was filed by that deadline and, thereafter, the Exceptant filed a letter

asking that the Personal Representative be removed for her failure to comply with

my order; 10

          WHEREAS, on May 4, 2023, a letter from the Personal Representative dated

April 11, 2023, with attachments, was filed;11 the letter does not have a stamp

indicating when it was received by the Register of Wills, but one page within the

6
    Id.
7
    Id.
8
    Id.
9
    Id.
10
     D.I. 20.
11
     D.I. 21.

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packet has a stamp indicating filing with the New Castle County Register in

Chancery on April 14, 2023;12 included with the attachments was an amended

inventory (the “Amended Inventory”); 13

          WHEREAS, on May 12, 2023, the Exceptant filed exceptions to the Amended

Inventory, contending that (1) the Personal Representative untimely filed the

Amended Inventory, (2) the Amended Inventory is overly broad and inconsistent

with the initial inventory’s values, and (3) the Personal Representative should be

removed from her duties (the “Second Exceptions”);14 the Personal Representative

responded in opposition to the Second Exceptions on June 5, 2023; 15

          WHEREAS, on July 20, 2023, the Exceptant filed an unsigned supplement to

the Second Exceptions, requesting the Personal Representative’s removal and that a

new personal representative to be appointed; the Exceptant also requested that the

Decedent’s home be sold and the residuary of the estate be equitably distributed;16

12
     Id. at 11.
13
     Id. at 3–4.
14
     D.I. 22.
15
     D.I. 24.
16
     D.I. 25.

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         WHEREAS, “[e]very executor or administrator shall render an account of

their administration to the Court of Chancery, in money, every year from the date of

their letters until the estate is closed and a final account passed by the Court[;]” 17

         IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, this 30th day of October 2023, as follows:

         1.     The Second Exceptions are OVERRULED in part and STAYED in

part.

         2.     Unfortunately, the record is unclear regarding the date on which the

Personal Representative filed the Amended Inventory. The packet in which the

Amended Inventory was contained was electronically filed on May 4, 2023, but a

stamp on page eleven of the filing reflects that at least one document in that packet

was received by the New Castle County Register in Chancery on April 14, 2023.18

Although filings for this action must be submitted to the Register of Wills, I will

give the Personal Representative the benefit of the doubt and find the Amended

Inventory was not sufficiently delayed to warrant sanctions or her removal for failure

to comply with my prior order. Thus, the timeliness portion of the Second

Exceptions is OVERRULED.

         3.     The Exceptant’s remaining concerns regarding the substance of the

Amended Inventory should, however, be STAYED. At first glance, those concerns

17
     12 Del. C. § 2301(a).
18
     D.I. 21.

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are not frivolous, nor were they fully resolved by the Personal Representative’s

response. But there is a bigger problem with this estate. The Personal

Representative’s first accounting was due by October 26, 2022 and her second by

October 26, 2023. There is nothing on the docket suggesting she requested an

extension from the Register of Wills for either accounting. Failure to file an

accounting when due is grounds for removing an estate fiduciary and raises

suspicions about the fiduciary’s service to the estate during the unaccounted-for

period.

      4.     The Personal Representative shall file the first and second accountings

within thirty (30) days. If she fails to do so, a rule to show cause will be issued to

her directing her to appear at a hearing and show cause why she should not be

removed as the personal representative and judgment entered against her.

      5.     If the Personal Representative is removed, the Second Exceptions will

be deemed moot. If the Personal Representative timely files the accountings, the

Exceptant will have an opportunity to review and file exceptions to such

accountings, the stay on the Second Exceptions will be lifted as of the date

exceptions are due in response to the accountings, and any exceptions will be

consolidated and scheduled for an evidentiary hearing.

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      6.    This is a final report under Court of Chancery Rule 143 and exceptions

may be filed under Court of Chancery Rule 144.

                                                  /s/ Selena E. Molina
                                                  Magistrate Selena E. Molina

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