In re Estate of Severson, 310 Neb. 982

Background

In March 2021, creditor Don Feik filed an application in Franklin County to informally appoint a personal representative for Ryan Severson, who died March 26, 2017, alleging no prior Nebraska probate and nominating Severson’s mother, Diane Kelly (now Schubert).
Feik’s stated purpose was to establish an estate limited to making the nominated personal representative a defendant in a Kearney County automobile-accident lawsuit; he sought waiver of bond, creditor notice, and an inventory.
Kelly objected, arguing the appointment proceeding was barred by the 3-year limit of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2408 and that the court lacked jurisdiction; she did not file any written acceptance of the appointment.
The county probate court nonetheless appointed Kelly informally, waived publication and inventory, and issued letters of personal representative to her despite no qualification or written acceptance.
Kelly appealed. The Nebraska Supreme Court considered only the probate appointment and issuance of letters, not the underlying Kearney County civil case.
The Supreme Court reversed the issuance of letters as unauthorized (because Kelly had not qualified/accepted) but held that commencement of the tardy informal appointment proceeding was permitted under § 30-2408(4) when no prior probate occurred within three years; the matter was remanded for further proceedings.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Feik)	Defendant's Argument (Kelly)	Held
Whether the probate appointment order and issuance of letters were final and appealable	Order was final because it appointed a PR and letters were issued, affecting substantial rights	Appointment was void/unenforceable and court lacked jurisdiction; appeal is proper	The appointment order + issuance of letters ended a discrete probate phase and was a final order for appeal purposes
Whether the court could issue letters to an appointee who objected and did not file acceptance/qualify	Letters were properly issued to enable service in the civil case and administer estate matters	One unwilling to serve cannot be compelled; statutes require qualification and written acceptance before letters	Court may not issue letters absent statutory qualification/acceptance; issuance here was unauthorized — letters reversed and remanded
Whether § 30-2408 barred commencement of an appointment proceeding more than 3 years after death	The tardy informal appointment was permitted under § 30-2408(4) because no probate or succession proceeding had occurred within three years	The 3-year bar prevents commencement except for limited exceptions; court lacked jurisdiction	§ 30-2408(4) permits commencement when no proceeding occurred within 3 years; the clause limits claims that may be presented, not commencement
Whether the probate court could decide/express views about the separate Kearney County civil case (savings-clause/scope)	Court’s coordination was needed to avoid an "absurd result" in the civil case	Probate court exceeded scope and issued advisory views about the separate civil action	Probate court’s comments/opinions on matters outside the appointment proceeding were reversed as beyond the court’s authority; no advisory rulings

Key Cases Cited

In re Estate of Beltran, 964 N.W.2d 714 (Neb. 2021) (applying § 25-1902 final-order test in probate)
In re Estate of Larson, 953 N.W.2d 535 (Neb. 2021) (substantial-rights analysis for probate finality)
In re Guardianship of Nicholas H., 958 N.W.2d 661 (Neb. 2021) (acceptance required before issuance of letters in guardianship context)
Matter of Estate of Cluff, 587 P.2d 128 (Utah 1978) (refusing to compel an unwilling person to serve as administrator)
In re Estate of Nemetz, 735 N.W.2d 363 (Neb. 2007) (reading § 30-2408 to permit tardy informal appointment when no prior proceeding occurred)
State ex rel. Peterson v. Ebke, 930 N.W.2d 551 (Neb. 2019) (courts should not render advisory opinions)