Claire C. Flowers v. Knox Lemee Flowers, 269 So. 3d 120

Background

Richard H. Flowers Jr. died in 2006; his 1983 will named his wife Brenda executor and left his residuary estate to Brenda (if she survived 179 days) otherwise held in trust for children including Claire and Knox, terminating when youngest child turned 25.
Brenda was conservator and then executor; she died ~122 days after Richard. Brenda’s will named Knox executor of her estate.
Knox petitioned to be appointed executor de bonis non of Richard’s estate; the chancery court appointed him and, over several years, approved sales of estate real property and liquidation of investments with notice to beneficiaries.
Claire (and later Jane) repeatedly challenged Knox’s appointment, sought accountings, and filed lengthy pleadings alleging mismanagement, fraud, and claims against various attorneys; many of these motions were dismissed or denied for lack of specificity or procedural defects.
The chancery court approved final accountings, found no assets remained in Richard’s estate, ordered that executor and attorney fees (and reimbursement to Brenda’s estate for advances) be determined against Brenda’s estate, and denied leave to amend under Rule 15(a).
On appeal, Claire and Jane raised four issues: Knox’s standing/appointment as executor, fidelity to Richard’s testamentary intent, award of attorneys’ fees to Knox’s counsel, and denial of leave to amend; the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Appointment of Knox as executor	Knox was not named in Richard’s will; appointment was improper and voids his acts	Chancellor had discretion to appoint an administrator de bonis non after Brenda’s death; beneficiaries had notice and raised objections earlier	Appointment was within chancery discretion and not an abuse of discretion; affirmed
Sufficiency of accounting / breach of fiduciary duty	Claire claimed Knox mismanaged estate, failed to provide accounting, and deprived beneficiaries of assets	Knox produced accountings, sales were court‑approved, and record shows receipts/disbursements; court reviewed bank records and checks	Chancellor found adequate final accounting; substantial evidence supports that no assets remain; affirmed
Award of attorneys’ and executor fees	Fees awarded to Knox’s attorneys were unsupported by billing/time records and improper given alleged misconduct	Fees are within chancery discretion; attorneys for temporary/permanent administrators are entitled to reasonable fees; insolvent‑estate rules permit payment of creditors/fees first	Chancellor properly awarded fees as debts of the estate to be determined against Brenda’s estate since Richard’s estate was insolvent; affirmed
Denial of Rule 15(a) leave to amend	Claire should have been allowed to amend after Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal; defendants would not be prejudiced	Claire failed to attach a proposed amended pleading or plead fraud/negligence with required specificity; some defendants were procedurally dismissed under Rule 21	Denial was not an abuse of discretion: plaintiff failed to present proposed amendment or plead with required specificity (M.R.C.P. 9(b)); affirmed

Key Cases Cited

Nichols v. Phillips (In re Estate of Brill), 76 So. 3d 695 (Miss. 2011) (standard of review for chancellor’s factual findings)
Estate of Wallace ex rel. Wallace v. Mohamed, 55 So. 3d 1057 (Miss. 2011) (chancellor’s discretion in appointing estate administrator)
In re Estate of Burnside, 85 So. 2d 817 (Miss. 1956) (appointment of administrator and chancellor discretion)
Ricks v. Johnson, 99 So. 142 (Miss. 1924) (executor named in will not absolute; court may decline appointment in exceptional changed circumstances)
McLemore v. McLemore (In re Estate of McLemore), 63 So. 3d 468 (Miss. 2011) (sufficiency of accounting and denial of further accounting where record supports chancellor)
Parker v. Benoist, 160 So. 3d 198 (Miss. 2015) (probate procedure and jurisdictional matters)