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Marshall v. Marshall, 126 S. Ct. 1735 (2006).

Estate Administration

Federal Probate Exception

The United States Supreme Court clarified the extent of the “probate exception” to federal jurisdiction by allowing a claim for tortious interference with an expectancy to go forward in federal court.  The Court explained that “the Ninth Circuit * * * read the probate exception broadly to exclude from the federal courts’ adjudicatory authority ‘not only direct challenges to a will or trust, but also questions which would ordinarily be decided by a probate court in determining the validity of the decedent’s estate planning instrument.’  * * *  The Court of Appeals further held that a State’s vesting of exclusive jurisdiction over probate matters in a special court strips federal courts of jurisdiction to entertain any ‘probate related matter,’ including claims respecting ‘tax liability, debt, gift, [or] tort.’”  The Court then reversed holding that “the Ninth Circuit had no warrant from Congress, or from decisions of this Court, for its sweeping extension of the probate exception.”

Moral:  A litigator must be prepared to argue probate matters in federal courts.

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