Werney's Estate, Matter of

• Decision Date: 08 March 1982
• Docket Number: Docket No. 57318
• Citation: 112 Mich.App. 601,316 N.W.2d 253
• Parties: In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Morris WERNEY, Deceased. Anne WERNEY, Personal Representative, Appellant, v. GREAT LAKES CONTAINER CORPORATION, Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

Page 253

316 N.W.2d 253

112 Mich.App. 601

In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Morris WERNEY, Deceased.

Anne WERNEY, Personal Representative, Appellant, v. GREAT LAKES CONTAINER CORPORATION, Appellee.

Docket No. 57318.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted Dec. 15, 1981.

Decided Jan. 20, 1982.

Released for Publication March 8, 1982.

Jaffe, Snider, Raitt & Heuer Professional Corp. by Thomas J. Tallerico and Brian G. Shannon, Detroit, for Great Lakes Container Corp.

Evans & Luptak by Andrew M. Barbas and Gordon S. Gold, Detroit, for Anne Werney.

Before R. B. BURNS, P. J., and BASHARA and CAVANAGH, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

On October 26, 1977, the Oakland County Probate Court entered an order allowing several claims against the estate, including that of the appellee. More than three years later, appellee filed a motion to compel payment of its claim. The personal representative of the estate opposed this motion and then filed a motion for rehearing of the previous order which had allowed the claim. On April 2, 1981, the probate court entered an order denying the motion for rehearing as untimely filed and ordering the estate to immediately pay the claim in the amount provided in the previous order of October 26, 1977.

The appellant personal representative then filed with this Court a claim of appeal from the order of April 2, 1981, pursuant to M.C.L. § 600.861; M.S.A. § 27A.861, which provides inter alia that a party to a proceeding in the probate court may appeal as a matter of right to the Court of Appeals from a "final order affecting the rights or interests of any interested person in an estate or trust". Since the order in question was entered in a decedent's estate, the issue is whether or not the order here involved was a "final" order and therefore appealable to this Court rather than the circuit court. The parties have filed separate briefs on the question of this Court's jurisdiction.

Since there is no statutory or rule definition of the term "final" as used in M.C.L. § 600.861; M.S.A. § 27A.861, the determination of which probate court orders are "final" and which are not, for purposes of determining the appellate jurisdiction of this Court, must be made on a case-by-case basis. In re Swanson Estate, 98 Mich.App. 347, 296 N.W.2d 256 (1980). The test of finality of a probate court order is whether it affects with finality the rights of the parties in the subject matter. Equitable Trust Co. v. Bankers Trust Co., 268 Mich. 394, 397-398, 256 N.W. 460 (1934), In re Swanson Estate, supra. The finality of each ruling or decision contained in the probate court order must be considered individually and can be determined only by an examination of the effect on the rights of the parties involved.

That provision of the order of April 2, 1981, which directed the estate to pay to appellee the amount specified in the order of October 26, 1977, did not decide the appellee's claim but rather held that the claim was allowed by the 1977 order and directed...