Grainger v. Wald
Florida District Court of Appeal
29 So. 3d 1155 (2010)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
Howard Wald (defendant) and Samuel Felos were involved in a vehicular accident prior to Felos’s death, pursuant to which Wald obtained a judgment against Felos. Felos died before the judgment was rendered. On May 23, 2007, Athena Grainger (plaintiff), the personal representative of Felos’s estate, personally served Ward’s personal-injury attorney with a notice to creditors regarding Felos’s death and included notice of the applicable 30-day statute of limitations for filing creditor claims against Felos’s estate. The statute of limitations period for Wald’s claim accordingly ran until June 22, 2007. Wald signed his claim against Felos’s estate on June 16, 2007, but failed to file the claim until July 2, 2007, well beyond the 30-day statute-of-limitations period. Grainger petitioned the probate court to strike Ward’s claim as untimely. Ward challenged, arguing that notice was improper because Grainger served his personal-injury attorney rather than his probate attorney. Ward’s personal-injury attorney was his only attorney at the time Grainger’s notice was served. The probate court held that the notice to creditors was improperly served on Wald’s personal-injury attorney and denied Grainger’s petition to strike Wald’s claim as untimely. Grainger appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hawkes, C.J.)
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