Court Opinion

ID: 9652108
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 17:17:27.469239+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:48.331089
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Roberts:
The majority concludes that the orphans’ court lacked jurisdiction to order a removed personal representative to pay over the disputed monies which came into his possession in his fiduciary capacity because the monies represented proceeds from the compromise of a wrongful death action. It is my view that the focus of the majority’s opinion is off target. The source of the funds is much less important than the fiduciary status of the person who is holding such funds. The Orphans’ Court Act of 1951, section 301 clearly directs that “The Orphans’ Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of: . . . (13) Title to Personal Property. The adjudication of the title to personal property in the possession of the personal representative. . . .”
The comment to this section reinforces the conclusion that regardless of the source of such property, if the personal representative claims title to it, the orphans’ court is the exclusive tribunal to determine ownership. Section 301(13) “is intended to obviate, whenever possible, a preliminary dispute as to whether the orphans’ court has jurisdiction to determine the title to the disputed property.” If the orphans’ court has exclusive jurisdiction to determine ownership it cer*195tainly has jurisdiction to control and direct the personal representative’s handling of such funds.
I might agree with the majority’s result if the individual who held the disputed proceeds were someone other than the personal representative; but because of the personal representative’s unique fiduciary relationship with the orphans’ court, it is not only legislatively mandated but also appropriate that the orphans’ court decide this dispute. The alternative result, regretfully reached by the majority, is to place the burden of proceeding upon the statutory beneficiaries who must bring an action in common pleas court to recover the funds which belong to them. The better approach is to direct the personal representative to turn over the funds to the orphans’ court and then establish his claim in the appropriate forum. Therefore I would affirm the action of the court below.