Supak v. Zboril, 56 S.W.3d 785 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2001, no pet.).
After the death of a party to an ongoing lawsuit, neither the
decedent’s personal representative nor the heirs of the estate were
joined as parties. Although no party disputed the lower court’s
jurisdiction at trial or on appeal, the appellate court raised the
issue. The court held that the lower court did not have jurisdiction.
The lower court may not simply proceed against the estate of the
deceased party. For unknown reasons, no one followed the procedures set
forth in the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure to obtain the appearance of
a representative on behalf of the deceased party’s estate so the lawsuit
could properly continue. Tex. R. Civ. P. 151 & 152. The argument that
jurisdiction existed because the personal representative appeared at
trial failed because there was no evidence that the personal
representative actively participated in the case as the personal
representative of the decedent’s estate. Because the trial court could
not properly enter judgment against a party not before it, the court
found the judgment void to the extent it imposed liability against the
decedent’s estate.
Moral: When a party to a lawsuit dies, be certain to follow the proper
procedures to make a representative of the deceased party’s estate a
party to the lawsuit.