{
  "id": 8522786,
  "name": "HUGHIE CASSTEVENS, NELLIE WILES TALLEY, LOLA WILES BUELIN, WESLEY GENE WILES and RUFUS LEE WILES, Plaintiffs-Appellants v. NELLIE S. WAGONER and HARVEY L. WAGONER, Defendants-Appellees",
  "name_abbreviation": "Casstevens v. Wagoner",
  "decision_date": "1990-07-03",
  "docket_number": "No. 8923SC1280",
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  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Judges Parker and Duncan concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "HUGHIE CASSTEVENS, NELLIE WILES TALLEY, LOLA WILES BUELIN, WESLEY GENE WILES and RUFUS LEE WILES, Plaintiffs-Appellants v. NELLIE S. WAGONER and HARVEY L. WAGONER, Defendants-Appellees"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "WELLS, Judge.\nA single issue, which we raise ex mero motu, is dispositive of this appeal, namely, whether the trial court had subject matter jurisdiction over this action. We determine that it did not, and we therefore vacate the judgment entered.\nIt is well established that a caveat is a proceeding in rem to attack the validity of a will. In re Will of Brock, 229 N.C. 482, 50 S.E.2d 555 (1948); see also Wiggins, North Carolina Wills (2d ed.), \u00a7 124. The right to contest a will by caveat is conferred by statute, is in derogation of the ancient common law right to dispose of property by will at death, and thus the statutory provisions setting forth the procedures to be followed in caveat proceedings must be strictly construed. In re Will of Winborne, 231 N.C. 463, 57 S.E.2d 795 (1950). \u201cNo caveat is properly constituted until the statutory requirements are met.\u201d Id. An attack upon a will offered for probate must be direct and by duly initiated caveat; a collateral attack on the will\u2019s validity is not permitted. In re Will of Charles, 263 N.C. 411, 139 S.E.2d 588 (1965). Absent properly instituted caveat proceedings, the superior court has no jurisdiction to pass upon the validity of a will as an incident of its civil jurisdiction to determine questions concerning title to realty. Brissie v. Craig, 232 N.C. 701, 62 S.E.2d 330 (1950).\nThe procedures for perfecting jurisdiction in caveat proceedings are set forth at G.S. \u00a7 31-32, et seq.; see also In re Will of Hester, 84 N.C. App. 585, 353 S.E.2d 643, rev\u2019d on other grounds, 320 N.C. 738, 360 S.E.2d 801 (1987). A caveat must be initiated by appropriate filing with the clerk of superior court. N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 31-32. Upon the due posting of the statutory bond, \u201cthe clerk shall transfer the cause to the superior court for trial.\u201d Id. \u00a7 31-33 (emphasis added). Although it is often stated that, \u201c[w]hen a caveat is filed the Superior Court acquires jurisdiction of the whole matter in controversy,\u201d In re Will of Charles, supra (and cases cited therein), such a pronouncement does not alter the affirmative statutory requirement that caveat proceedings can only be instituted by due filing of the cause before the clerk of superior court. In re Will of Winbome, supra. When a purported caveat is fatally defective from its inception, the superior court acquires no jurisdiction over the cause. See Matter of Lamb\u2019s Will, 303 N.C. 452, 279 S.E.2d 781 (1981).\nThe record is devoid of any indication that plaintiffs filed an appropriate caveat before the clerk of superior court or that the cause was duly transferred to the superior court in compliance with G.S. \u00a7 31-32 and G.S. \u00a7 31-33. Instead, it is obvious that plaintiffs attempted to initiate these purported caveat proceedings directly in the superior court as part of their attack on the validity of the 1979 deed. The trial court thus had no subject matter jurisdiction to determine the question of the will\u2019s validity. Moreover, it is equally clear that any standing these plaintiffs might have to challenge the validity of the 1979 deed is predicated on their purported status as heirs of the decedent, having a legally cognizable interest in the alleged intestate estate. See Kelly v. Kelly, 241 N.C. 146, 84 S.E.2d 809 (1954); see also Holt v. Holt, 232 N.C. 497, 61 S.E.2d 448 (1950). Under the terms of the 1971 will, however, plaintiffs would take nothing, and consequently they would have no legal interest in the decedent\u2019s estate and no standing to challenge the validity of the deed. Id. It is therefore inescapable that this action is in every respect an impermissible collateral attack on the validity of the 1971 will, incident to an attack on the validity of the 1979 deed. Brissie v. Craig, supra.\nFor the reasons stated, the judgment of the trial court must be vacated and this case remanded to the Yadkin County Superior Court for entry of an order dismissing plaintiffs\u2019 action.\nVacated and remanded.\nJudges Parker and Duncan concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "WELLS, Judge."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Franklin Smith for plaintiff-appellants.",
      "Shore, Hudspeth and Harding, by N. Lawrence Hudspeth, III, for defendant-appellees."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "HUGHIE CASSTEVENS, NELLIE WILES TALLEY, LOLA WILES BUELIN, WESLEY GENE WILES and RUFUS LEE WILES, Plaintiffs-Appellants v. NELLIE S. WAGONER and HARVEY L. WAGONER, Defendants-Appellees\nNo. 8923SC1280\n(Filed 3 July 1990)\nWills \u00a7 13.1 (NCI3d)\u2014 caveat \u2014 jurisdiction\nThe trial court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over an action seeking to set aside a will and deed where the record is devoid of any indication that plaintiffs filed an appropriate caveat before the Clerk of Superior Court or that the cause was duly transferred to the superior court in compliance with N.C.G.S. \u00a7 31-32 and N.C.G.S. \u00a7 31-33. It is obvious that plaintiffs attempted to initiate these purported caveat proceedings directly in superior court as part of their attack on the validity of the deed, so that the trial court had no subject matter jurisdiction to determine the question of the will\u2019s validity. It is equally clear that any standing plaintiffs might have to challenge validity of the deed is predicated on their purported status as heirs of the decedent, but plaintiffs would take nothing under the terms of the will and consequently have no legal interest in the estate and no standing to challenge the validity of the deed.\nAm Jur 2d, Wills \u00a7\u00a7 891 et seq.\nAPPEAL by plaintiffs and defendants from judgment entered 20 July 1989 in YADKIN County Superior Court by Judge Julius A. Rousseau, Jr. Heard in the Court of Appeals 30 May 1990.\nOn 28 August 1987, plaintiffs filed their pleading denominated as \u201cComplaint and Caveat,\u201d seeking to set aside the 1971 will and 1979 deed executed by decedent Frank Casstevens, died 5 April 1986, on grounds that he lacked the requisite mental capacity to duly execute these instruments or, alternatively, that these instruments were procured by undue influence. By the will, the decedent devised, either outright or by vested remainder, all of his personal and real property to defendant Nellie S. Wagoner. By the deed, the decedent conveyed to this same defendant in excess of 230 acres of realty situated in Yadkin County.\nDefendants answered and interposed, inter alia, a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to post the $200.00 prosecution bond required by G.S. \u00a7 31-33 and a motion to sever the caveat to the will from plaintiffs\u2019 claim seeking to set aside the deed. The trial court denied these motions, but ordered plaintiffs to post the $200.00 prosecution bond with the Clerk of the Superior Court of Yadkin County.\nFollowing a trial on the issues, the jury answered the questions going to the will\u2019s validity for defendants and, pursuant to the trial court\u2019s instructions, did not reach the questions going to the deed\u2019s validity. Both plaintiffs and defendants then moved for an award of attorney\u2019s fees under G.S. \u00a7 6-21(2), which motions the trial court denied.\nFrom the judgment entered upon the jury\u2019s verdict, denying the relief sought and denying the motion for an award of attorney\u2019s fees, plaintiffs appeal. From the same judgment denying their motion for an award of attorney\u2019s fees, defendants cross-appeal.\nFranklin Smith for plaintiff-appellants.\nShore, Hudspeth and Harding, by N. Lawrence Hudspeth, III, for defendant-appellees."
  },
  "file_name": "0337-01",
  "first_page_order": 367,
  "last_page_order": 370
}
