Saar v. Shea

CHRISTIAN, J. Juuli Poder died in Estonia (U.S.S.R.), leaving an estate comprising a savings account in a San Francisco bank. Certain Estonian heirs-at-law appeal from a decree distributing the estate to respondent Julius Pillman, a nephew now residing in Maine.1 The appeal is founded on the contention that the failure of respondent public administrator to give notice to the heirs-at-law, as required by Probate Code section 328, deprived the court of jurisdiction to admit the purported will of the decedent to probate and to take any proceedings thereafter (citing Farmers etc. Nat. Bank v. Superior Court (1945) 25 Cal.2d 842 [155 P.2d 823]; Estate of Vollhaber (1967) 251 Cal.App.2d 145 [59 Cal.Rptr. 169]).

The petition for probate of will listed among the heirs the present appellants, giving their addresses simply as “Estonia. ’ ’ Notice of hearing was mailed to the following address: “Estonia, Care of June L. Barnum, Attorney, 233 Sansome Street, San Francisco, Calif. ’ ’ Receiving the notices, attorney Barnum promptly wrote to the public administrator, advising that she represented only Julius Pillman, the proponent of the will, and that she could not accept service on behalf of the addressees. The public administrator took no action in response to this letter. The will was admitted to probate; an order was later obtained instructing the public administrator to proceed with distribution in accordance with the will.

Thereafter, appellants retained local counsel who filed a request for special notice under Probate Code section 1202. One week later, the public administrator filed his final account and report, petition for settlement thereof and petition for distribution. Notice of hearing on this petition was mailed to the attorneys for appellants. Appellants immediately filed “Objections to Distribution and Motion to Set Aside Order Admitting Will to Probate” upon the stated ground that " the court lacked jurisdiction to make its order admitting the will to probate because notice of the hearing on the petition to [789]admit the will into probate was not given to the moving parties and upon the further ground that the purported notice given to the moving parties did not comply with the requirements of law.” Appellants’ counsel failed to appear at the hearing on the account and report; the court approved the account and ordered distribution. Appellants then noticed a “Motion to Set Aside Decree of Final Distribution and Order Denying Objections to Final Distribution.” The grounds given were “a mixup in [counsel’s] office calendar. ’ ’ The motion was denied.