Donald Croom BEATTY, Jr.
v.
Mary Alice Beatty CARMICHAEL and the Estate of Mary Alice Gatlin Beatty, deceased.
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Appeal
from Jefferson Circuit Court (CV-97-2209)
Donald
H. Brockway, Jr., Birmingham; and Robert J. Hayes,
Birmingham, for appellant.
David
C. Skinner, Birmingham, for appellees.
BRYAN,
Justice.
Donald
Croom Beatty, Jr., appeals from a judgment of the Jefferson
Circuit Court ("the circuit court") dismissing an
action involving the estate of his mother, Mary Alice Gatlin
Beatty, deceased. For the reasons set forth herein, we
dismiss Donald's appeal as untimely filed.
Facts
and Procedural History
It is
unnecessary to set forth in detail the procedural history of
this case. The record on appeal indicates that Mary Alice
Gatlin Beatty ("the decedent") died testate on
December 2, 1995; that two of the decedent's children,
Donald and Mary Alice Beatty Carmichael ("Mary
Alice") filed separate petitions in the Jefferson
Probate Court to probate two separate wills signed by the
decedent; and that Donald and Mary Alice each filed a contest
to the will submitted to probate by the other. The record
further indicates that, on April 14, 1997, at Donald's
request, the probate court entered an order transferring
"the matter" to the circuit court. On May 8, 1997,
the circuit court entered an order stating that it was
assuming jurisdiction over the will contest pursuant to
§ 43-8-198, Ala. Code 1975, which generally provides
authority to a probate court to transfer a will contest to
the circuit court "[u]pon the demand of any party to the
contest."
The
record further indicates that, on September 30, 1999, the
circuit court granted a motion for a summary judgment filed
by Mary Alice, upholding the validity
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of the decedent's will dated March 3, 1994, which had
been submitted for probate by Mary Alice, and declaring that
an instrument dated May 13, 1995, purporting to be the last
will and testament of the decedent, which was submitted by
Donald, was invalid and void.[1]
On
November 3, 1999, the circuit court entered an order
purporting to admit the will dated March 3, 1994, for probate
and by separate order granted letters testamentary to Mary
Alice. On June 9, 2005, at Mary Alice's request, the
circuit court entered an order continuing the case on the
court's administrative docket. The circuit court
subsequently entered another order continuing the case on the
court's administrative docket until July 9,
2010.[2] In that order, "counsel" was
directed to file a written report of the status of the case
on or before July 9, 2010. No written status report appears
in the record on appeal.
On May
1, 2018, the circuit court entered an order removing the case
from the court's administrative docket and dismissing the
case based on the failure to file a status report as required
by the court. On May 22, 2018, Donald filed a "motion to
reconsider" the order dismissing the case. Donald asked
the circuit court to reinstate the case to its administrative
docket or, in the alternative, to conduct a "status
conference wherein [he] can be given instruction by the court
as to what steps [he] must take for this matter to remain in
the administrative docket or place this matter on an active
docket." On January 14, 2019, the circuit court entered
an order purporting to deny Donald's motion to
reconsider. On February 25, 2019, Donald filed a notice of
appeal from the May 1, 2018, judgment of dismissal.
Motion
to Dismiss
On June
10, 2019, Mary Alice filed in this Court a motion to dismiss
Donald's appeal as untimely filed. She argues that
Donald's "motion to reconsider" was denied by
operation of law on August 20, 2018, and that Donald failed
to ...