Kent v. Chase
| Decision Date | 29 April 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 48261,48261 |
| Citation | 1 Kan.App.2d 251,563 P.2d 1103 |
| Parties | R. A. KENT, Appellant, v. Harold H. CHASE, Special Administrator of the Estate of Andrew T. Hicks, Deceased, Appellee. |
| Court | Kansas Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
In Kansas, probate jurisdiction of a nonresident decedent's estate is limited to tangible and intangible property having a situs in this state as provided in K.S.A. 59-805. It is held: The situs of the liability insurance policy was in the state of New York and the courts of this state have no jurisdiction of the subject matter or the parties to this action. (Following Barr, Administratrix v. MacHarg, Administrator, 203 Kan. 612, 616, 455 P.2d 516.)
John Q. Royce, of Hampton, Royce, Engleman & Nelson, Salina, for appellant.
Aubrey G. Linville, of Clark, Mize & Linville, Chartered, Salina, for appellee.
Before HARMAN, C. J., and ABBOTT and PARKS, JJ.
The single question in this case is whether a Kansas probate court has jurisdiction to appoint a special administrator for a nonresident decedent for the sole purpose of enforcing a tort claim against him when the decedent owned no property located in Kansas, but had an automobile liability insurance policy which was physically located in the state of his residence.
The parties stipulated to the following facts: On December 20, 1972, Andrew T. Hicks, a resident of Suffolk County, New York, was killed in a one-car accident when the car he was driving overturned on Interstate Highway 70 in Geary County, Kansas. Shortly thereafter R. A. Kent's automobile collided with the Hicks automobile while it was lying on the highway. At the time of the accident, Mr. Hicks was insured under a policy of liability insurance covering the car he was operating. The policy was physically located in Wyandance, Suffolk County, New York. Mr. Hicks did not own any tangible or intangible property with a situs in the state of Kansas within the meaning of K.S.A. 59-805.
On December 19, 1974, Mr. Kent filed a petition in the probate court of Saline County, Kansas, for the appointment of defendant, Harold H. Chase, as special administrator of the estate of Andrew T. Hicks, deceased, pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 1973 Supp. 59-710 and 59-2239(2) (now K.S.A. 59-710 and 59-2239(2)). Mr. Chase was so appointed on the same date. Also on this date, and in the same court, Mr. Kent filed a petition for allowance of demand in the amount of $20,000 for bodily injuries and medical expenses sustained in the collision with the decedent's automobile on December 20, 1972.
On December 19, 1974, the plaintiff filed a petition praying for a judgment against the defendant administrator in the district court of Saline County, Kansas.
The trial court entered its order granting the defendant's motion for summary judgment on December 17, 1975. The reason for the decision was that K.S.A. 59-805 provides that the situs of 'insurance policies' is in the state in which the policy is located and Mr. Hicks' policy was located in Wyandanch, Suffolk County, New York, at the time of his death. The trial court ordered that the Saline County probate court and its court did not have jurisdiction of the subject matter or the parties to this action. Plaintiff, R. A. Kent, has appealed from that decision.
Plaintiff contends that the amendment of K.S.A. 59-710 and 59-2239 by the Kansas legislature in 1972 gave our probate courts jurisdiction to appoint a personal representative for a decedent for the purpose of enforcing tort claims against him, even though there were no assets of the decedent within the state of Kansas. In support of his position, the plaintiff asserts that K.S.A. 1973 Supp. 59-710 and 59-2239(2) (now K.S.A. 59-710 and 59-2239(2)) are the controlling statutes in this case and cites In re Estate of Preston, 193 Kan. 145, 392 P.2d 922 (1964), and In re Estate of Rogers, 164 Kan. 492, 190 P.2d 857 (1948), for our consideration.
K.S.A. 59-2239 has been held to be a statute of limitation. (In re Estate of Wood, 198 Kan. 313, 424 P.2d 528, Syl. 2; Gifford v. Saunders, 207 Kan. 360, 362, 485 P.2d 195.) The amendment enacted by the 1972 legislature merely increased the statute of limitations for tort claims from nine months to two years. Correspondingly, the only effect of the amendment to K.S.A. 59-710 was to permit the appointment of a special administrator pursuant to subsection (2) of K.S.A. 59-2239, as amended by the same act. These amendments did nothing to change the jurisdiction of our courts over...
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Moore v. Luther
...denied the substitution. Russell exacerbated the situation by informing the trial court that, pursuant to Kent v. Chase, Special Administrator, 1 Kan. App. 2d 251, 563 P.2d 1103 (1977), the only proper party would be a special administrator appointed by an Iowa probate court. The trial cour......
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Moore v. Luther ex rel. Luther
...the trial court that the only proper party would be a special administrator appointed by an Iowa court and cited Kent v. Chase, 1 Kan.App.2d 251, 563 P.2d 1103 (1977) as support. The trial court and the plaintiffs were unaware that the 1980 amendments to K.S.A. 59-805 overturned Kent and pe......
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Livingston v. Bias, 52874
...resident, did not die possessed of any tangible or intangible property having situs in this state. Kent v. Chase, Special Administrator, 1 Kan.App.2d 251, 563 P.2d 1103 (1977). K.S.A. 60-225(a )(1) "If a party dies and the claim is not thereby extinguished, the court shall on motion order s......