Court Opinion

ID: 9550505
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:36:11.867384+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:21:40.900500
License: Public Domain

LINDE, J.,
concurring.
I agree that the expenses, and disbursements of a legal proceeding which a personal representative may recover from an estate include attorney fees on appeal, if the appeal is taken "in good faith and with just cause” and the fees are "necessary.” ORS 116.183(2).11 only add a few words to draw attention to the fact that by "good faith” in this context the court means more than absence of fraud, deceit, or some corrupt purpose. The appeal must have been pursued in a genuine and reasonable belief that there was at least a serious possibility, though perhaps less than a probability, that the decision appealed from would be reversed or modified, before the estate can be charged for the expenses of the appeal. The statute itself uses the qualifying terms "just cause” and "necessary.” The *475cases reviewed by the Court variously refer to "reasonable ground,” In re Shepherd’s Estate, 152 Or 15, 42, 41 P2d 444, 49 P2d 448 (1935), or "reasonable basis,” In re Feehely’s Estate, 182 Or 246, 256, 187 P2d 156 (1947). Our present opinion speaks of "good cause.”
The term "good faith” standing alone poses a problem when the personal representative is not a lawyer, for if it merely meant "honesty” the estate would be liable whenever the personal representative followed counsel’s suggestion to appeal, no matter whether that suggestion was well considered. But the phrases quoted by the court demand more. The estate need not pay the expenses of an appeal taken only in order to play it safe, to secure the personal representative, or counsel, against possible criticism. The personal representative must make a "good faith” effort to ascertain within a layman’s capabilities that there is "just cause” for the appeal, in the statutory phrases, and that the expenses are "necessary” and the attorney fees will be "reasonable.” Otherwise, settlement of these expenses will be a matter between the personal representative and the attorney, not the estate.

 ORS 116.183(2):
"A personal representative who defends or prosecutes any proceeding in good faith and with just cause, whether successful or not, is entitled to receive from the estate his necessary expenses and disbursements, including reasonable attorney fees, in the proceeding.”