IN RE ESTATE OF RICKIE CHARLES VAUGHN - Articles

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IN RE ESTATE OF RICKIE CHARLES VAUGHN

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Sep 27, 2023

Court: TN Court of Appeals

Attorneys 1: Lynn W. Thompson, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellants, Robert Earl Vaughn, Majorie Ann Vaughn, Zenobia Ruth Vaughn, Tangie Sue Phillips, and Kevin Eugene Childress.

Attorneys 2: David Wade, Lee L. Piovarcy, Joshua L. Baker, and Dillan C. McQueen, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellees, Allen, Summers, Simpson, Lillie & Gresham, PLLC, and John Hensley.

Judge(s): GOLDIN

This case involves the assertion of various claims by several of the decedent’s siblings in connection with the administration of the decedent’s estate. The initially-appointed administrator, another sibling, could not post the bond ordered by the probate court, prompting the court to direct that the administrator’s attorney have joint control over all assets. The claims at issue in this appeal, which were dismissed by the probate court, are against the law firm of that attorney and one of his associates at the law firm. Of note, however, the initially-appointed administrator was also sued in the probate court proceedings, and it is against the backdrop of his alleged malfeasance that the actions of the law firm and associate attorney are scrutinized. The heart of the present dispute centers on when the sibling plaintiffs had standing to sue for the alleged wrongs. The law firm and associate attorney, who are appellees in this appeal, claim that the sibling plaintiffs had standing well before they ever asserted any claims, such that the claims are time-barred. The sibling plaintiffs, along with a successor administrator who later intervened in the case, assert that the sibling plaintiffs did not have standing to sue until another person was formally rejected as a potential heir. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the claims at issue.

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