Northstar Anesthesia of Alabama, LLC v. Noble, 215 So. 3d 1044

Thomas Noble died on November 18, 2011; Paula Noble was appointed personal representative (PR) on January 18, 2012 and received letters of administration.
Probate court closed the estate and discharged Paula as PR on August 16, 2012.
Paula filed a wrongful-death complaint on November 15, 2013 (within two years of death), but after she had been discharged as PR.
On December 16, 2013 (after the two-year statutory period expired), Paula petitioned and was reappointed PR and the original letters were reissued for purposes of pursuing the wrongful-death action.
Defendants moved for summary judgment arguing (1) Paula lacked PR capacity when she filed (so the suit was a nullity) and (2) reappointment after the two-year nonclaim bar cannot relate back to save the claim; the trial court denied the motions and certified the question for permissive appeal.
The Alabama Supreme Court reversed: it held the complaint was a nullity because only a legally appointed personal representative may commence a § 6-5-410 wrongful-death action, and relation-back did not save the suit where reappointment occurred after the two-year period (no probate-court inadvertence exception shown).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether suit filed by someone discharged as PR is a nullity	Paula: discharge only ended administrative duties for estate distribution; she retained capacity to bring wrongful-death claim on heirs’ behalf	Defs: August 16 order discharged Paula for all purposes; she lacked authority when she filed, so suit is a nullity	Held: Suit is a nullity — wrongful-death actions may be commenced only by an appointed PR; the August 16 order discharged her for all purposes
Whether subsequent reappointment (after two-year nonclaim bar) relates back to save the action	Paula: reappointment (Dec. 16) relates back to original PR petition or complaint, thus validating timely filing	Defs: relation back generally cannot save wrongful-death claims when PR appointed after statute expired; no probate-court inadvertence here	Held: Relation-back does not apply; appointment after the two-year nonclaim bar does not revive the nullity absent narrow inadvertence exception (not present)
Whether defendants waived lack-of-capacity defense by not pleading it early	Paula: Parkway and Dr. Markham failed to plead lack of capacity and thus waived the defense	Defs: a complaint that is a nullity requires no affirmative defense; nullity can be treated as never having existed	Held: No waiver required — because the original complaint is a nullity, defendants need not have pleaded capacity as an affirmative defense

Ex parte Hubbard Props., Inc., 205 So.3d 1211 (Ala. 2016) (reaffirming that wrongful-death suits by non-personal representatives are nullities)
Alvarado v. Estate of Kidd, 205 So.3d 1188 (Ala. 2016) (discussing relation-back limitations and reaffirming Wood)
Wood v. Wayman, 47 So.3d 1212 (Ala. 2010) (relation back generally cannot save wrongful-death claim when PR appointed after two-year period)
Ogle v. Gordon, 706 So.2d 707 (Ala. 1997) (recognized a narrow exception where probate-court inadvertence could permit relation back)
Waters v. Hipp, 600 So.2d 981 (Ala. 1992) (only an executor or administrator qualifies as a personal representative under § 6-5-410; suits by others are nullities)
Downtown Nursing Home, Inc. v. Pool, 375 So.2d 465 (Ala. 1979) (establishing the nullity rule for wrongful-death suits brought by non-PRs)