In re Estate of Catherine M. Stricker

Summary

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that Orphans' Court orders directing the sale of estate real property were neither final appealable orders nor collateral orders. Because the decedent's will did not specifically devise the properties and no final accounting or distribution had occurred, immediate appeal was unavailable absent certification under Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 342. The court affirmed the Superior Court's order quashing the appeal.

Holdings

1. Orders directing the administrator or executor of a decedent's estate to sell estate real estate are interlocutory and are not immediately appealable when they do not dispose of all claims and parties and the Orphans' Court has not designated them as final under Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 342(1).
2. Orders directing the sale of estate real estate in furtherance of the estate's administration and residue distribution are not collateral orders because they are not separable from the main cause of action.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Orphans' Court orders directing the sale of estate real estate were final and immediately appealable under Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure 341 and 342 before the executors' final accounting and distribution.
2. Whether the orders directing the sale of estate real estate were immediately appealable under the collateral-order doctrine in Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 313.

Disposition

affirmed