In re Estate of Harrington, No. 19

• Decision Date: 02 June 2000
• Docket Number: No. 19, No. 912., No. 911
• Parties: In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Patricia Jean HARRINGTON, Deceased, James B. Harrington, Jr. and Custom Beeper Company, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellants. v. Lorna Bannigan, Richard Harwood, Penny Harwood, Lisa Kleiboer, Dana Cordova, and James McCormick, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

5 P.3d 1070

129 N.M. 266

2000 NMCA 58

In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Patricia Jean HARRINGTON, Deceased,

James B. Harrington, Jr. and Custom Beeper Company, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellants. v. Lorna Bannigan, Richard Harwood, Penny Harwood, Lisa Kleiboer, Dana Cordova, and James McCormick, Defendants-Appellees.

Nos. 19,911, 19,912.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

June 2, 2000.

Oliver B. Cohen, Albuquerque, Howard L. Anderson, Albuquerque, for Appellants.

Ronald G. Harris, Foster Johnson Harris McDonald, Albuquerque, Robert N. Singer, Singer, Smith & Williams, P.A., Albuquerque, George R. McFall, Suzanne M. Barker, Jennifer A. Noya, Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Harris & Sisk, P.A., Albuquerque, for Appellees.

OPINION

PICKARD, Chief Judge.

{1} James B. Harrington, Sr. (Harrington) appeals the trial court's decision to liquidate a business he owned co-equally with his wife (Decedent) prior to her death. Upon her death, Decedent passed her entire estate, including her interest in the business, by will to her sister and three daughters (Devisees). The persons nominated to serve as her personal representatives applied for informal probate of Decedent's will, and the trial court granted the application. Harrington petitioned the trial court to set aside the informal probate of Decedent's will on the ground that the will was invalid. By challenging the validity of Decedent's will, Harrington converted what had been an informal proceeding to a formal proceeding, as we explain below.

{2} In the course of the formal proceeding, Decedent's personal representatives, acting on behalf of her estate and the Devisees (collectively, the Estate), called a shareholders' meeting in order to elect directors for the business. Harrington refused to attend the meeting, declaring that he would not operate the business with the Devisees. The Estate responded to Harrington's refusal by petitioning the trial court to appoint a receiver to liquidate the business. The Estate claimed the trial court should grant its petition on the grounds that the parties could not agree on how to operate the business and Harrington had improperly used business funds for his personal purposes.

{3} The trial court denied the Estate's request. As part of its order, however, the trial court informed the parties that if they failed to resolve their differences by a certain date, it would appoint a receiver to liquidate the business. After the deadline passed and no resolution had been reached, the trial court appointed a receiver. The trial court ordered the receiver to take charge of all the assets used in the business and to arrange for the sale of the business in a commercially reasonable manner. The trial court also enjoined Harrington from participating in and transferring assets from, the business. Approximately eight months later, the receiver found a buyer willing to pay an acceptable price for the business. The trial court ordered the receiver to sell the business to the buyer.

{4} Harrington filed a notice of appeal from that order within 30 days. Prior to filing his notice of appeal, however, Harrington also filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 1-012(B)(1) NMRA 2000. The trial court did not conduct a hearing on the motion until after Harrington's appeal was underway. To our knowledge, the trial court still has not formally ruled upon the motion, although Harrington states in his brief in chief that the trial court orally denied his motion from the bench at the motion hearing and then sent the parties a letter memorializing its denial. Notwithstanding the fact that the trial court has not entered a written order denying or granting the motion, the parties have fully addressed the issue of subject matter jurisdiction in their appellate briefs. Indeed, that issue is the central issue in Harrington's appeal.

{5} On appeal, Harrington claims the trial court erred because, as a trial court sitting in probate, it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to liquidate the business. In the alternative, he claims that even if the trial court had jurisdiction to liquidate the business, its determination to do so pursuant to either NMSA 1978, § 45-3-911 (1975) or NMSA 1978, § 53-16-16 (1967) is not supported by substantial evidence. Harrington ultimately requests that we declare the receivership void ab initio.

{6} The Estate claims we can entertain neither Harrington's subject matter jurisdiction claim nor his substantial evidence claim because the trial court's order appointing a receiver was a final order from which Harrington failed to timely appeal. In the alternative, the Estate claims the trial court had jurisdiction to liquidate the business and that its decision to do so is supported by substantial evidence.

{7} For the reasons stated below, we disagree with the Estate that our ability to review Harrington's subject matter jurisdiction claim is controlled by whether the trial court's receivership order constitutes a final order. Our disagreement with the Estate is inconsequential, however, because we conclude as a matter of law that the trial court had jurisdiction to liquidate the business. We agree with the Estate that the trial court's order appointing a receiver was a final order. In light of our holding on the jurisdiction issue, we also agree with the Estate that Harrington's failure to timely appeal from the trial court's order appointing a receiver precludes us from entertaining his substantial evidence claim. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's exercise of jurisdiction and dismiss the appeal to the extent that it alleges errors committed pursuant to the exercise of that jurisdiction.

DISCUSSION

I. APPELLATE COURT JURISDICTION

{8} The first issue we address is whether we have the authority to review Harrington's subject matter jurisdiction claim, notwithstanding the facts that the trial court has not entered a written order on Harrington's Rule 1-012(B)(1) motion and that the appeal was not timely filed from an earlier final order. We can, as a general rule, only review formal written orders or judgments from which an appellant has timely appealed. See Rule 12-201 NMRA 2000 (stating that appeals from non-evidentiary rulings must be commenced within thirty days of entry of final judgment); Rice v. Gonzales, 79 N.M. 377, 378, 444 P.2d 288, 289 (1968) (concluding that because the notice of appeal was not timely, this Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal). The rationale underlying this rule is that a district court's oral rulings merely evidence its intentions, intentions which "can change at any time before the entry of a final judgment." Bouldin v. Bruce M. Bernard, Inc., 78 N.M. 188, 189, 429 P.2d 647, 648 (1967).

{9} It follows from the general rule that we technically lack jurisdiction to review Harrington's subject matter jurisdiction claim. This is true because, although Harrington raised this claim pursuant to a Rule 1-012(B)(1) motion at the trial court level, a motion that Harrington claims has been denied both orally and in a letter, the trial court has yet to enter a formal written order granting or denying the motion. See Rice, 79 N.M. at 378,

444 P.2d at 289; Hamilton v. Doty, 65 N.M. 270, 274, 335 P.2d 1067, 1070 (1958) (ruling that statements of counsel in the briefs are not part of the record). In addition, there existed an earlier final order from which Harrington did not appeal. In light of the foregoing, the issue becomes whether we must strictly adhere to the general rules and neglect Harrington's jurisdiction claim, or whether there is some good reason why we should address his claim. We favor addressing his claim under the unique facts present in this case. See Peterson v. Peterson, 98 N.M. 744, 746, 652 P.2d 1195, 1197 (1982).

{10} In Peterson, the New Mexico Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether a district court's failure to enter findings of fact and conclusions of law with its judgment, which failure resulted in technical error, required the Supreme Court to remand the case in order that the district court could correct its error. See id. Answering in the negative, our Supreme Court stated:

[C]ertainly little would be accomplished, other than incurring additional delay and further expense, in remanding this case back to the trial court for the purpose of entering its findings of fact and conclusions of law again in concert with another judgment. Although we must insist upon compliance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, in this case no meaningful purpose would be furthered to remand this case back to the trial court for this purpose alone.

Id.

{11} As in Peterson, we see no meaningful reason to adhere to the general rules in the case at bar. If we do not address Harrington's subject matter jurisdiction claim at this time, we would merely be postponing the inevitable. Irrespective of the conclusions we reach in the other issues presented for our review, Harrington's jurisdictional claim will not vanish or go away. The trial court will continue to retain the authority of formally ruling on Harrington's Rule 1-012(B)(1) motion, a motion that we liken to a Rule 1-060(B)(4) motion because Harrington's motion alleges that the entire proceedings below were void. See Rule 1-060(B)(4) NMRA 2000 (allowing relief from a final judgment on the ground that the judgment is void for lack of subject matter jurisdiction); Standard Oil Co. of California v. United States, 429 U.S. 17, 17-19, 97 S.Ct. 31, 50 L.Ed.2d 21 (1976) (ruling that district courts can entertain Rule 60(B) motions after appeal has been taken without leave of the appellate court); 12 James Wm. Moore, Moore's Federal Practice § 60.64 (3d ed.1997) [hereinafter Moore] ("Nomenclature is not important. The label or description that a party puts on its motion does not control whether the party should be granted or denied relief...."). After the trial court renders its decision on Harrington's Rule 1-012...