Marshall v. Marshall, 547 U.S. 293 (2006).
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.