WILLIAM GOLDSTEIN, EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT JAMES LAYER, ALL SITTING. ALL CONCUR.
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WILLIAM GOLDSTEIN, EXECUTOR OF THE
ESTATE OF ROBERT JAMES LAYER, DECEASED
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APPELLANT
ON APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS
NO. 2008-CA-000670-OA
OLDHAM CIRCUIT COURT NO. 03-CI-00320
HONORABLE TIMOTHY J. FEELEY, JUDGE
OLDHAM CIRCUIT COURT
FAMILY COURT DIVISION
AND
RUBY JOANN YOUNG-LAYER,
REAL PARTY IN INTEREST
APPELLEES
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE VENTERS
AFFIRMING
Appellant, William Goldstein, executor of the estate of Robert
James Layer, appeals to this Court from an Order of the Court of Appeals
denying his "Petition for a Writ of Mandamus and Prohibition" and his
"Motion For Intermediate Relief ." For the reasons set forth below, we
affirm the Order of the Court of Appeals .
Factual Background
This matter began in the Oldham Circuit Court in 2003 with the
filing of a petition to dissolve the eight-year marriage of Appellee, Ruby
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JoAnn Young--Layer and Robert James Layer . I A limited Decree of
Dissolution was entered on June 20, 2003, dissolving the marriage and
expressly reserving for future determination all remaining issues, which
consisted primarily of the division of marital property. More than three
years later, on September 16, 2006, Robert died. At the time of his
death, none of the marital property issues had been resolved.
On September 22, 2006, JoAnn moved to substitute Robert's
estate, instead of the personal representative of his estate, as a party to
the dissolution action . Appellee, Judge Timothy Feeley, entered an order
on October 6, 2006, granting the substitution and setting the matter for
a status conference to be held February 9, 2007. Appellant was
appointed executor of Robert's estate on October 17, 2006, and did not
qualify by filing his bond until October 26, 2006 .
At the status conference, the trial court issued another order to
substitute Robert's estate as the real party in interest in the dissolution
action. The order noted that the attorney who originally represented
Robert also represented Robert's estate. The order also noted that the
attorney was present at this hearing and the hearing where the original
substitution order had been entered. 2
1 Because no children were born of the marriage, this case does not
involve issues related to child custody or support.
2 Although the trial court record made available to us is sparse, it
appears the service of all the motions and orders were to counsel only.
Apparently, the estate, through its executor, was never personally served,
although Robert's counsel became the estate's counsel and did appear at all the
hearings . His appearances following probate of Robert's will were by "special
appearance" only .
The record does not indicate if any relevant events occurred
between the February 9, 2007 hearing and March 2008 . On March 7,
2008, on JoAnn's motion, the trial court entered a restraining order to
prevent Appellant from transferring any interest in the estate's assets,
except by order of the trial court or by agreement with JoAnn. On March
13, 2008, Appellant filed motions to set aside the restraining order and
to dismiss the pending dissolution action on the grounds that the circuit
court lacked personal jurisdiction over him as the executor. In those
motions, Appellant argued that the procedures set forth in KRS 395 .278
and CR 25 .01 to revive the action against him were not properly followed .
On March 20, 2008, the trial court entered an order holding that
the substitution of Robert's estate was "sufficient" to allow it to acquire
jurisdiction over Appellant and let the case "continue to conclusion ."
3
JoAnn then moved pursuant to CR 65 .04 for a temporary injunction in
place of the restraining; order . A hearing on that motion was set for
March 28, 2008, but was later passed by agreement of the parties to
April 18, 2008. The hearing never transpired because, on April 5, 2008,
Appellant filed this action in the Court of Appeals for a writ of mandamus
and prohibition . The Court of Appeals denied the petition on the
grounds that Appellant had an available remedy through an interlocutory
The trial court did not address Appellant's March 13, 2008 motion to
set aside the restraining order, but ruled only on the jurisdiction argument
previously set out in his March 7, 2008, response to Appellant's motion for a
restraining order. No claim is made that the restraining order expired by virtue
of the hearing on March 14, 2008 and CR 65 .03(5) . We are provided with no
record of a hearing on March 14.
3
appeal of the injunction via CR 65.07
Analysis
Writs of prohibition are "extraordinary in nature, and the courts of
this Commonwealth `have always been cautious and conservative both in
entertaining petitions for and in granting such relief."' Kentucky
Employers Mut. Ins . v. Coleman , 236 S.W .3d 9, 12 (Ky. 2007) (uotin
Bender v. Eaton, 343 S .W.2d 799, 800 (Ky. 1961)) . In Hoskins v.
Maricle, 150 S .W .3d 1 (Ky. 2004), we reexamined the development of the
law relating to the issuance of extraordinary writs and their
Constitutional underpinnings . In Weaver v. Toney, 107 Ky. 419, 54 S .W.
732 (1899), we noted that since 1899 the issuance of such writs was
authorized in two circumstances: 1) where a court is acting "out of its
jurisdiction" and 2) where the lower court "has jurisdiction" but is
proceeding erroneously and there is no adequate remedy by appeal . That
dichotomy has remained essentially unchanged, and was restated in
Hoskins as follows:
A writ of prohibition may be granted upon a showing that (1)
the lower court is proceeding or is about to proceed outside
of its jurisdiction and there is no remedy through an
application to an intermediate court; or (2) that the lower
court is acting or is about to act erroneously, although
within its jurisdiction, and there exists no adequate remedy
Hoskins describes two variations. First, Duffin v. Field, 208 Ky. 543,
271 S.W . 596 (Ky. 1925) seemed to suggest that the Court had no discretion to
deny the "no jurisdiction" type of writ . Hoskins , 150 S .W.3d at 9, cites
Chamblee v. Rose, 249 S.W.2d 775 (Ky. 1952) as authority holding the issuance
of such writs is always discretionary. Second, Shumaker v. Paxton 613 S.W .2d
130, 131 (Ky. 1981) held that the lack of an adequate remedy by appeal was
essential for the issuance of a "no jurisdiction writ ." Hoskins , 150 S.W.3d at
10, repudiated that aspect of Shumaker .
by appeal or otherwise and great injustice and irreparable
injury will result if the petition is not granted .
Id . at 10 .
Appellant contends that the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction
over him as executor of Robert's estate because he was not properly
served with process and because the dissolution action was not properly
revived against him . He argues that the Court of Appeals misapplied the
Hoskins analysis when it concluded that the availability of an appeal
under CR 65.07 justified its denial of his petition . He cites Hoskins for
the rule that when a lower court is acting outside its jurisdiction, the
availability of an appellate remedy is immaterial. Appellant's reading of
Hoskins is correct. One seeking a writ when the lower court is acting
"outside of its jurisdiction" need not establish the lack of an adequate
alternative remedy or the suffering of great injustice and irreparable
injury. Those preconditions apply only when a lower court acts
"erroneously but within its jurisdiction ." We disagree, however, with
Appellant's underlying premise that the trial court was "acting outside its
jurisdiction" because it lacked personal jurisdiction over him .
A lower court lacking personal jurisdiction over a party is not
acting or about to act "outside of its jurisdiction," as that phrase has
been used in the context of writ cases. It is acting "erroneously although
within its jurisdiction ." See Manningv. Baxter, 281 Ky. 659, 136 S .W.2d
1074 (1940) . In denying a writ to a petitioner (Manning) who claimed
that the Madison Circuit Court lacked jurisdiction over him, the Court
stated the following rule, which in substance is identical to the Hoskins
rule :
The power conferred on this court by section 110 of the
Constitution to exercise supervisory control over inferior
courts by original writ has uniformly been restricted to cases
in which the inferior court (1) lacks jurisdiction or is
proceeding beyond its jurisdiction and (2) is proceeding
erroneously within its jurisdiction and great and irreparable
injury will result to the complaining party for which there is
no adequate remedy by appeal or otherwise.
Id. at 1075 . Then, the Court in Manning added : "The word jurisdiction',
as used in that rule, means jurisdiction of the subject matter." Id.
(Emphasis added) . In Watson v. Humphrey, 293 Ky. 839, 170 S .W.2d
865, 866-867 (1943), the Court again recited the rule that a writ may be
issued against an inferior court which "lacks jurisdiction or is proceeding
beyond its jurisdiction," and held :
Jurisdiction in this connection means jurisdiction ofthe subject
matter. The respondent unquestionably had jurisdiction to
decide whether a judgment should be vacated or set aside
and to determine its ultimate effect and its conclusiveness as
to other parties . He may have acted erroneously but he was
not acting beyond his jurisdiction .
(Emphasis added) . (Internal citations omitted) .
In O hio River Contract Co . v. Gordon, 170 Ky . 412, 186 S .W. 178,
181 (1916), and Central Of Georgia Ry. Co v. Gordon, 180 Ky. 739, 203
S .W . 725 (1918), our predecessor court held that, because the question
of personal jurisdiction was reviewable on appeal, writs of prohibition
were unavailable to litigants claiming lack of personal jurisdiction . It
stated in Central Of Georgia Ry. Co :
[t]he court over which the respondent presides clearly has
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jurisdiction of the subject-matter of the Metcalfe suit. As to
whether it has jurisdiction in that suit of the person of the
petitioner is a question to be determined by that court upon
the facts presented to it. It has jurisdiction to determine
that question, and if it should commit error in doing so, this
court would have jurisdiction to review it upon appeal.
Id . at 727.
The phrase "outside of its jurisdiction" in the context of the
Hoskins test therefore must refer to the court's subject matter
jurisdiction, and not to personal jurisdiction over a particular party- 5
Thus, Appellant's effort to obtain a writ because of the claim that the
trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over him did not place him in the
"no jurisdiction" class of writs . Appellant could therefore only receive a
writ by showing that the trial court was "erroneously acting, but within
its jurisdiction ."
Our review of prior published decisions discloses two cases in
which our predecessor court issued writs of prohibition based upon the
lack of personal jurisdiction, with no apparent regard for the adequacy of
an alternate remedy or to the gravity and reparability of the harm :
Jasper v. Tartar, 7 S .W.2d 236 (Ky. 1928), and Lyons v. Bryan, 273
S .W .2d 838 (Ky .1954) . In Jasper, a circuit judge entered an ex-parte
order to modify a final divorce decree . The Court of Appeals issued a writ
to prohibit enforcement of the order on the grounds that "no judgment is
valid unless the defendant therein is brought before the court and given
5 All of the instances of courts acting without jurisdiction cited in
Hoskins are clear examples of the lack of subject matter jurisdiction .
an opportunity to be heard ." Id . a t 237 . In Lyons, four men who had not
been personally served petitioned the Court of Appeals for a writ to
prohibit a circuit court from enforcing a contempt order against them .
The Court issued the writ, holding that punishment for contempt could
not be imposed until the circuit court acquired personal jurisdiction of
them, and stating, "In attempting to punish (the four), the (circuit) court
is acting without jurisdiction . Therefore, the remedy of prohibition may
be invoked." Id . at 840 . While we continue to endorse the principles of
due process implicit in both Jasper and Lyons , we regard those decisions
as anomalies in the law of extraordinary writs to the extent that in each
case, the Court issued a writ based on the lack of personal jurisdiction,
without expressly considering the adequacy of an alternate remedy or the
irreparability of the threatened harm.
The Court of Appeals properly viewed this case under the class of
writs, and determined that Appellant had an adequate remedy by appeal.
Appellant filed his petition for a writ less than two weeks before the
temporary injunction hearing scheduled for April '18, 2008 . That hearing
was itself an available remedy, a forum in which he could prove to the
trial court his claim that proceeding further was error. An adverse ruling
from that hearing would have been subject to appellate review under CR
65.07(1) . See Wyatt, Tarrant 8s Combs v. Williams, 892 S.W .2d 584, 586
(Ky. 1995) . Thus, the Court of Appeals correctly denied Appellant's writ.
Although Appellant more vigorously argues that the trial court
lacked personal jurisdiction over him due to failure of service and an
8
improper revival of the pending dissolution case, he also states in his
brief that the "trial court lacked in rem jurisdiction over the assets of the
estate." To the extent that his reference to in rem jurisdiction over the
property of the estate raises the issue of subject matter jurisdiction, we
will address the matter in the context of the issue before us - the appeal
of a denial of the Petition for a Writ of Mandamus and Prohibition.
Appellant relies on Snyder v. Snyder 769 S .W.2d 70 (Ky. App .
1989) . That case is, in this regard, unhelpful . Snyder involved an action
to set aside a legal separation decree under CR 60 .02 after the death of
one of the parties . There, the Court of Appeals addressed the interaction
of KRS 395.278 and CR 25 .01 and concluded that the failure to revive
the action against the administrator of Snyder's estate left the trial court
without personal jurisdiction over the administrator. Snyder, 769
S .W.2d at 72 . The case did not address the matter of in rem or subject
matter jurisdiction over the assets of the marital estate or the decedent's
estate .
We have no clear statutory authority or common law precedent
that directly addresses the trial court's retention of subject matter
jurisdiction over the marital property when one party dies after entry of a
decree dissolving the marriage but reserving the settlement of the marital
estate for further proceedings . In Rhodes v. Pederson 229 S .W.3d 62
(Ky. App. 2007), the Court of Appeals addressed the situation in which a
party in a pending divorce case died before entry of a divorce decree .
Rhodes held that, under the doctrine of abatement, the circuit court
9
loses jurisdiction to proceed with a divorce if the death of one of the
spouses occurs while the parties are still married . Id. at 66 . The Court
noted, however, that a different rule applies when the death occurs after
the dissolution of the marriage, but before the resolution of the marital
property issues :
The law is clear that only after a decree in divorce is granted,
or perhaps a written separation agreement has been entered
into by the parties, can the court continue (after the death of
a party) to litigate the attending issues, including the
equitable distribution of property. Only after a decree in
divorce is granted, and thereafter one of the parties dies, can
the court continue with the equitable distribution of marital
property. (Citing 27A Corpus Juris Secundum , Divorce
196, Abatement on death of party .) If, on the other hand,
the court had entered a decree, or if the judicial function had
terminated without the formal entry of a decree, the death of
a spouse would not affect the matter. The doctrine of
abatement is only inapplicable where the dissolution of
marriage has been ordered prior to the death of the party,
even though the order may be partial, interlocutory or not a
final judgment resolving all issues in the case.
Id . at 65-66 . (Footnotes omitted) .
There is no doubt that under KRS Chapter 403, the trial court
initially had subject matter jurisdiction over Robert and JoAnn's divorce
case and in rem jurisdiction over their property. Robert's death, after the
dissolution of their marriage, did not divest the circuit court of
jurisdiction over the marital property, nor did it eliminate the necessity of
equitably dividing the marital property. The district court clearly lacks
that authority. We conclude, therefore, that regardless of the question of
in personam jurisdiction over the executor of Robert's estate, the trial
court retained in rem jurisdiction to determine the nature and extent of
10
the marital property and the authority to equitably divide it, and
apportion to JoAnn her share.
In the final analysis, regardless of whether Appellant's writ petition
was examined as a "no jurisdiction" writ or an "erroneous but within its
jurisdiction" writ, the Court of Appeals had discretion to deny the writ.
In Cox v. Braden, 266 S .W.3d 792 (Ky. 2008) we reaffirmed the longstanding principle relating to the issuance of extraordinary writs :
[whhether to issue a writ is "always discretionary, even when
the trial court was acting outside its jurisdiction." Hoskins,
150 S.W.3d at 9 ; Bender, 343 S .W.2d at 800 ("The exercise
of this authority has no limits except our judicial discretion,
and each case must stand on its own merits .") ; Ohio River
Contract Co. , 186 S.W . at 181 ("The writ of prohibition [or
mandamus] is not a writ which can be demanded as a
matter of right and of course, but its granting or refusal is a
matter which lies within the discretion of this court.") . In
other words, a writ is never mandatory, even upon
satisfaction of one of the tests laid out in Hoskins.
Id . at 797 .
When the petition for the writ was filed, the trial court was about
to hold a hearing on whether its restraining order would expire or
continue in the form of a temporary injunction . CR 65 .01 - CR 65.09
provides a well defined path for the orderly resolution of such matters
without the need to resort to the remedy of an extraordinary writ. While
we do not hold that a case proceeding along that path should never be
diverted by an application to an intermediate court for a writ, we do hold
that the intermediate court may consider the remedies inherent within
CR 65 .01 et. seq. as factors to be weighed in exercising its discretion to
grant or deny the writ. We see no abuse of discretion in the Court of
II
Appeals' denial of the writ.
The Order of the Court of Appeals denying the relief sought by
Appellant is affirmed . This matter is remanded to the Oldham Circuit
Court for further proceedings .
All sitting. All concur.
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT:
John K. Carter
2311 South Highway 53
P.O . Box 205
LaGrange, KY 40031
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE :
Timothy Edward Feeley
Oldham Circuit Court
Family Division
100 W. Main Street
Oldham County Courthouse
LaGrange, KY 40031
COUNSEL FOR REAL PARTY IN INTREEST
RUBY JOANN YOUNG-LAYER:
Allen K. Gailor
Gailor Law Office, PLLC
100 Professional Arts Bldg.
730 W. Market Street
Louisville, KY 40202
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