Abrahamson v. Estate of LeBold (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-031-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 15-P-474 Appeals Court RICHARD ABRAHAMSON vs. ESTATE OF JOHN LeBOLD. No. 15-P-474. Barnstable. January 14, 2016. – March 17, 2016. Present: Hanlon, Sullivan, & Maldonado, JJ. Limitations, Statute of. Executor and Administrator, Short statute of limitations. Practice, Civil, Statute of limitations. Jurisdiction, Equitable. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on July 3, 2014. A motion to dismiss was heard by Cornelius J. Moriarty, II, J. Alexander J. Durst, of Ohio (David V. Lawler with him) for the plaintiff. Eric P. Finamore for the defendant. SULLIVAN, J. The plaintiff, Richard Abrahamson, appeals from a judgment dismissing his complaint because it was not filed within one year of the date of death of the decedent, John LeBold, as required by § 3-803(a) of the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code (MUPC). See G. L. c. 190B, § 3-803(a). Abrahamson contends that his suit was timely filed pursuant to the savings statute, see G. L. c. 260 § 32, and, alternatively, he should have been granted equitable relief from the one-year limitations period in the MUPC. We conclude that G. L. c. 190B, § 3-803(a), governs, and G. L. c. 190B, § 3-803(e), bars the award of equitable relief in the trial court. 1. Procedural history. The following procedural history is undisputed on appeal. Abrahamson first filed suit against John LeBold in the Court of Common Pleas in Hamilton County, Ohio, in September of 2012. A little over two months later, on December 5, 2012, LeBold died. The Ohio trial court dismissed the suit for lack of personal jurisdiction on January 22, 2013, and Abrahamson appealed. While the appeal was pending, on February 13, 2013, LeBold’s counsel filed a “Suggestion of Death” with the trial court. Abrahamson then successfully substituted LeBold’s estate as the defendant in the Ohio appeal. On December 6, 2013, a year and a day after LeBold’s death, the Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal on the ground of lack of personal jurisdiction. Abrahamson did not file suit in Massachusetts until July 3, 2014, over a year and a half after LeBold’s death. The estate filed a motion to dismiss the Massachusetts action, which was allowed. In a comprehensive and well-reasoned memorandum, the motion judge ruled that Abrahamson’s claims were barred as a matter of law because LeBold had died more than a year before the plaintiff filed suit in Massachusetts, thereby […]