In re the Estate of Jane Greer Kelly Brown

Summary

The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal held that a claimant was not required to file a separate independent action in Florida to preserve an estate claim when related litigation was already pending in Bermuda and the personal representative had voluntarily participated in that litigation. The court concluded that the Bermuda proceeding served as the equivalent of an independent action under section 733.705, Florida Statutes, and reversed the order striking the claim.

Holdings

1. Where litigation concerning the matter underlying an estate claim is already pending in a forum selected by the decedent and the personal representative voluntarily participates in that litigation, the pending foreign action may serve as the equivalent of the independent action required by section 733.705(3); the claimant was therefore not required to file a duplicative action in Florida.
2. The stipulation did not require Shelby to abandon or parallel the Bermuda litigation by filing a separate Florida action because it did not mention the Bermuda action or designate Florida as the exclusive forum.

Questions Presented

1. Whether pending litigation in Bermuda, in which the decedent's personal representative voluntarily participated, satisfied the requirement of an independent action under section 733.705(3), Florida Statutes (1980), for purposes of preserving Shelby's estate claim.
2. Whether the parties' stipulation required Shelby to commence a separate action in Florida despite the continuing Bermuda litigation.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded