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The Tennessee Court of Appeals in the
recent decision of Doris
Guyear, Heir of Leroy Guyear, deceased v. Joey Blalock, et al No. M2012-01562-COA-R3-CV,
2014 WL 3697564 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014) discussed efforts to collect on a
promissory note that was owned by a deceased individual. In this case, the owner of the promissory
note died and his widow desired to collect on the promissory note as his heir. She therefore filed a complaint in the name
of his estate to collect on the promissory note. The problem was, there was no estate opened. The wife then amended the complaint on
several occasions to try to fix the problem by being listed as the “next
friend” of the deceased and ultimately as a “partner” of the deceased. However, the plaintiff never actually
opened up an estate for her husband in order to properly proceed with the
lawsuit to enforce the promissory note that her husband owned.
As a result, the question addressed by the
Tennessee Court of Appeals was whether the wife could bring a suit for the
promissory note of her deceased husband without formally opening up an estate. Ultimately, the Tennessee Court of Appeals
found that the spouse could not bring this cause of action for breach of
contract for the promissory note in her individual capacity or in the
capacities that she attempted. Rather,
the spouse was required to open up an estate in order to properly bring this
lawsuit for breach of contract. The
Court specifically stated as follows:
The proper way to
establish the respective rights of Leroy Guyear's heirs to his property would
have been through the administration of his estate. If Doris Guyear had been
appointed as the administrator, then she would have had the right, and perhaps
even the duty, to sue on behalf of his estate in order to collect any debts
that were owed to her late husband. See,
State v. Anderson, 84 Tenn. 321, 338 (1886); Carr v. Lowe's Executor,
54 Tenn. 84, 90 (1871); State
v. Fulton, 49 S.W. 297, 301. The trial judge alerted Ms. Guyear to
the necessity of opening the estate and becoming its administrator if she
wished to bring suit in its name, but she chose not to do that for whatever
reason, and rather to amend her complaint by bringing it in her own name and as
her late husband's “next friend.”
Guyear at 4. As a result, the
Tennessee Court of Appeals dismissed this cause of action to enforce the
promissory note because it was not brought on behalf of the proper party, the
estate. This case is important because
it shows when you need to open up an estate in order to bring a lawsuit on
behalf of a deceased individual. Just
because someone is the deceased’s next of kin or spouse does not mean that they
can necessarily bring a lawsuit on their behalf. Tennessee law is designed so that an estate
must be opened in this context in order to be able to bring a cause of action
for breach of contract. If an estate is
not opened then likely a cause of action brought by a spouse or child will not
be valid under Tennessee law.
Follow me on Twitter at @jasonalee for updates from the Tennessee Wills and Estates blog.
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