In re Estate of Richardson

• Decision Date: 18 May 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2002-CA-01485-COA.,2002-CA-01485-COA.
• Citation: 905 So.2d 620
• Parties: In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Kela RICHARDSON, Deceased. Bernice Richardson, Administratrix of the Estate of Kela Richardson, Appellant/Cross Appellee, v. Virgil Cornes, Jr., Individually and as The Natural Father and Duly Appointed Guardian of Virgil Cornes, III, A Minor, Jerome Cornes and Julian Cornes, Appellees/Cross Appellants.
• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals

905 So.2d 620

In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Kela RICHARDSON, Deceased.

Bernice Richardson, Administratrix of the Estate of Kela Richardson, Appellant/Cross Appellee, v. Virgil Cornes, Jr., Individually and as The Natural Father and Duly Appointed Guardian of Virgil Cornes, III, A Minor, Jerome Cornes and Julian Cornes, Appellees/Cross Appellants.

No. 2002-CA-01485-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 18, 2004.

Rehearing Denied August 3, 2004.

Ellis Turnage, Cleveland, Tamekia Rochelle Goliday, attorneys for appellant.

William Harvey Gresham, Clarksdale, attorney for appellees.

EN BANC.

IRVING, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Bernice Richardson, in her capacity as the administratrix of the estate of her deceased daughter, Kela Richardson, filed a petition to disinherit Virgil Cornes, Jr., Kela's biological father, and his three children, Jerome Cornes, Julian Cornes, and Virgil Cornes, III (the Corneses) because Virgil Cornes, Jr. had not acknowledged and supported Kela during her lifetime.¹ This petition was filed after Richardson had filed three previous pleadings in which she alleged, without qualification or explanation, that the Corneses, along with her and her children, were Kela's heirs and wrongful death beneficiaries.²

¶ 2. The chancellor denied the petition, finding that Richardson possessed unclean hands and that she should be equitably estopped from seeking to disinherit the Corneses. The finding was predicated upon the fact that Richardson had filed the previously, mentioned pleadings in which she alleged that the Corneses were Kela's heirs at law and wrongful death beneficiaries. Richardson contends that the chancellor erred by refusing to consider the merits of her petition to disinherit the Corneses.

¶ 3. The Corneses filed a cross-appeal asserting that the chancellor erred in awarding administratrix's and attorney's fees and expenses.

¶ 4. We reverse the chancellor's decision that Richardson is estopped, because of unclean hands, from seeking to disinherit the Corneses and remand the matter for a hearing on the merits of Richardson's allegations that Virgil Cornes, Jr. did not acknowledge and support Kela during her lifetime. We also reverse and remand the chancellor's decision awarding Richardson $40,000 in administratrix's fees, as we find this amount excessive and not made in accordance with the Uniform Chancery Court Rules. We do not find that the amount of attorney's fees awarded is necessarily excessive. However, we reverse and remand the attorney's fee award because we find it, like the administratrix's fee award, was not made in accordance with the Uniform Chancery Court Rules. Both awards are remanded to the chancellor for further consideration in accordance with the appropriate rule, provided that Richardson presents proper documentation.

FACTS

¶ 5. On August 8, 1996, Richardson filed, in the Chancery Court of the Second Judicial District of Bolivar County, a sworn petition for grant of letters of administration upon the estate of Kela Richardson, who died intestate on January 29, 1996. In her petition for grant of letters of administration, Richardson alleged, inter alia, that "[u]pon information and belief, Kela Richardson left surviving her the following heirs at law and next of kin: Bernice Richardson, mother; Virgil Carnes, father; Chrysanthemum Richardson, sister; Nathan P. White, brother; and Kamia White, sister."³ Richardson asked to be appointed administratrix of Kela's estate.

¶ 6. Letters of administration were granted to Richardson as requested. Thereafter, she filed and successfully pursued a wrongful death claim against the physician and other medical care providers who provided treatment to Kela prior to her death.

¶ 7. The next relevant pleading filed by Richardson was the petition to determine Kela's lawful heirs. This petition was filed on August 11, 2000. In this petition, Richardson alleged the following:

The decedent, Kela Richardson, was survived by the following heirs at law and wrongful death beneficiary, [sic] under Mississippi's Wrongful Death Act set forth in Mississippi Code Ann. Section 11-7-13 (Cum.Supp.1992): Bernice Richardson, mother; Virgil Cornes Jr., father; Chrysanthemum Richardson, sister; Nathan P. White, a minor brother; Kamie White, a minor sister; Virgil Cornes, III, a minor brother; Julian Cornes, a minor brother and Jerome Cornes, a brother.

¶ 8. The third pleading filed by Richardson was the petition to settle the claim of the estate and the claim of the wrongful death beneficiaries. In this petition, Richardson alleged that:

[A]t the time of [Kela's] death, she was survived by the following heirs at law and wrongful death beneficiaries under the Mississippi Wrongful Death Statute, [sic] 11-7-13 Mississippi Code Annotated (1972): Petitioner; her father, Virgil Cornes, Jr.; her sister, Chrysanthemum Venquil Richardson; her brother, Jerome Cornes; her brother, Julian Cornes; her brother, Nathan Duwell White; her sister, Kamica White; and, her brother Virgil Cornes III. They have been declared wrongful death beneficiaries by separate order of the court.

¶ 9. The final relevant pleading filed by Richardson was a petition in which she sought to prevent the Corneses from receiving a share of the wrongful death proceeds realized as a result of Kela's death. Richardson denominated the pleading "Petition for Determination of Heirs at Law and Wrongful Death Beneficiaries and to Disinherit Natural Father and His Kindred." In paragraph 4 of this pleading, Richardson alleged the following:

The decedent, Kela Richardson, was survived by the following heirs at law and wrongful death beneficiaries, under Mississippi's Wrongful Death Act [sic] set forth in Mississippi Code Ann. Section 11-7-13 (Cum.Supp.1992): Bernice Richardson, mother, 1301 Church Street, Apt. 28, Shelby, Bolivar County, Mississippi and Virgil Cornes Jr., father; 1020 Quail Wood Drive, Fayetteville, North Carolina 28314; Nathan White, a minor, brother; Kamica White, a minor, sister; and Chrysanthemum Richardson, a sister of 1301 Church Street, Apt. 28, Shelby, Bolivar County, Mississippi; Virgil Cornes, III, a minor brother, 1020 Quail Wood Drive, Fayetteville, North Carolina 28314; Jerome Cornes, a brother; and Julian Cornes, a brother of Saarpsalzstr # 126, Hamburg, Germany.

¶ 10. After listing Kela's heirs at law, which list included the Corneses, Richardson set forth her reasons for asserting that the Corneses should not take a share of the wrongful death proceeds, stemming from Kela's death, even though Virgil Cornes, Jr. was Kela's natural father. The reasons, as laid out by Richardson in her petition, are set forth in the following paragraphs:

8. After petitioner learned that she, [sic] was pregnant in January 1973, Virgil Cornes, Jr. who was then in the United States military [sic] abandoned her and had no further contact and/or communications with petitioner.

9. During her pregnancy, Virgil Cornes, Jr. provided no financial or emotional support to petitioner. After Kela Richardson's birth, Virgil Cornes, Jr. visited with Kela Richardson on two occasions. On the first occasion Virgil Cornes, Jr. ever saw Kela Richardson, she was two and a half years old. The next time Virgil Cornes, Jr. saw Kela Richardson she was four to five years old. Virgil Cornes, Jr. did not see Kela Richardson again until 1991. After the 1991 visit, Virgil Cornes, Jr. never saw Kela Richardson again before her death on January 29, 1996.

10. Virgil Cornes, Jr. never financially or emotionally supported or acknowledged Kela Richardson as his child and to date has never paid any of her medical or hospital bills related to the pre-natal care, labor and delivery treatment rendered to Kela Richardson and necessitated by her birth.

11. Virgil Cornes, Jr. deserted petitioner during her pregnancy and provided no emotional or financial support to petitioner during the pregnancy. Virgil Cornes, Jr. had no communication with petitioner during her pregnancy, during Kela Richardson's life or after the death of Kela Richardson on January 29, 1996.

12. Virgil Cornes, Jr. did attend Kela Richardson's funeral and paid $300 toward the Hank Byas funeral bill which amounted [to] $3,619.

13. Pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. Section 91-1-15(3)(d)(i) (1994), Virgil Cornes, Jr. and his natural kindred Virgil Cornes, III, Julian Cornes, Jerome Cornes, are precluded from inheriting from Kela Richardson. Virgil Cornes, Jr. did not openly treat Kela Richardson as his child and refused or neglected to support the child in anyway. Neither Virgil Cornes, Jr. nor his kindred are entitled as a matter of fact or law to inherit from Kela Richardson.

14. Virgil Cornes, Jr. should not be allowed to receive an economic windfall simply because he impregnated petitioner. Virgil Cornes, Jr. refused to openly treat Kela Richardson as his daughter or to comply with his duty to provide essential support, and he and his kindred should be prohibited from receiving an inheritance.

¶ 11. Pursuant to Richardson's first petition to determine Kela's heirs, the chancellor issued an order in which he found that Kela's lawful heirs and beneficiaries under Mississippi's Wrongful Death Act were Richardson, her children, and the Corneses.

¶ 12. In the order granting authority to settle the claim of the estate, Richardson was authorized to pay "any and all attorney's fees and expenses and satisfy all liens on the estate" and to distribute the remainder of the wrongful death proceeds to the heirs and beneficiaries as determined in the order entered pursuant to the first petition to determine Kela's heirs and wrongful death beneficiaries. ¶ 13. Ultimately, the chancellor authorized payment of administratrix's fees in the amount of $40,000 and attorney's fees and expenses in the amount of $5,496.61. It is the award of these fees that forms the basis of the Corneses's cross-appeal.

¶ 14. After Richardson filed her petition to disinherit the...