Ex parte Scott

Summary

The Alabama Supreme Court grants Joan McCullough Scott’s petition for a writ of mandamus and directs the Jefferson Probate Court to vacate an escrow order requiring Alabama-resident beneficiaries to pay into that court distributions received from the English administration of Kathryn Marie Lange’s estate. The court holds that assets subject to the English administration, including proceeds derived from English real property, were not within the Jefferson Probate Court’s jurisdiction absent an order from the English court directing their transfer.

Holdings

1. The Jefferson Probate Court had no jurisdiction to compel Scott to deposit into escrow property she received from the English administration because those assets were not part of the res of the Jefferson County administration and remained subject to the jurisdiction of the English administration.
2. Mandamus was appropriate because Scott established a clear legal right to relief from the probate court's jurisdictionally unauthorized escrow order and lacked another adequate remedy.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Jefferson Probate Court had jurisdiction to require Scott to place into escrow property distributed to her from the separate English administration.
2. Whether a probate court may use assets outside the res of the Alabama administration to secure an administrator's indemnification claim.

Disposition

writ_granted