## Facts

- Jesus Alberto Lauria Lesseur died intestate while domiciled in Venezuela.
- He was survived by his wife, Morelia Perez Lauria, and four adult children from a prior marriage.
- A Venezuelan court entered a judgment declaring that the wife and the children were the decedent’s sole heirs, but the judgment did not appoint a personal representative or address administration of Florida assets.
- The estate included cash and real property located in Florida, requiring an ancillary administration in Florida.
- The children retained an attorney who filed a petition for ancillary administration in Florida and sought appointment as ancillary personal representative; the Florida circuit court issued letters of administration appointing the attorney.
- After the appointment, the wife sought to revoke the letters and to be appointed ancillary personal representative, asserting she had not been served with formal notice of the petition and that she had statutory preference as the surviving spouse.
- The children’s attorney opposed revocation, arguing that comity required Florida to follow the Venezuelan judgment and Venezuelan practice, that the children (as the majority of heirs) had the right to select the ancillary personal representative, and that the wife was unfit due to hostility toward the children.
- The circuit court entered final summary judgment revoking the attorney’s appointment and appointing the wife as ancillary personal representative based on Florida law and the lack of formal notice to a person with preference.
- The removed ancillary personal representative appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Florida was required, under comity, to apply the Venezuelan judgment and alleged Venezuelan law to control who should be appointed ancillary personal representative for Florida assets.
2. Whether, if Florida law applied, the adult children (as alleged “majority heirs”) had priority to select the ancillary personal representative over the surviving spouse in an intestate estate.
3. Whether summary judgment was improper because the wife failed to prove she lacked notice of the ancillary petition, or because the record showed a dispute about notice.
4. Whether the wife’s alleged unfitness to serve as ancillary personal representative created a genuine issue of material fact barring summary judgment.

## Decision

- The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the final summary judgment revoking the prior letters and appointing the surviving spouse as ancillary personal representative.
- The court reviewed de novo because the appeal involved summary judgment and interpretation of Florida probate statutes governing ancillary administration and appointment of personal representatives.
- The court held the Venezuelan judgment was entitled to comity only to the limited extent it identified the heirs; it did not appoint a personal representative and did not govern Florida ancillary administration.
- The court declined to treat affidavits from Venezuelan attorneys (offered to explain Venezuelan practice) as controlling through comity where they were conclusory and unsupported by cited Venezuelan legal authority.
- Applying Florida law, the court agreed the surviving spouse had statutory preference for appointment in an intestate estate and that the children’s “majority heirs” theory did not defeat that preference in this ancillary proceeding.
- The court agreed revocation was proper because the person with statutory preference was entitled to formal notice of the petition before appointment of a person with lesser entitlement.
- The court rejected the unfitness/hostility argument as not supported by record evidence sufficient to defeat summary judgment and not properly preserved as a basis for reversal.

## Legal Principles

- A Florida court may extend comity to a foreign judgment when the foreign court had jurisdiction, the parties had notice and an opportunity to be heard, and recognition would not violate Florida public policy; comity is not automatic as to matters the foreign judgment did not decide.
- A foreign probate judgment that identifies heirs may be recognized in Florida, but it does not necessarily control administration steps in a Florida ancillary estate when it does not appoint a personal representative or address ancillary administration.
- Florida law governs the appointment of a personal representative in a Florida ancillary administration, including statutory priority rules for appointment in intestate estates.
- Under Florida’s priority scheme for appointment of personal representatives in intestacy, the surviving spouse has preference over other heirs, and that preference is not displaced merely because other heirs are more numerous.
- Persons with higher statutory entitlement to be appointed personal representative are entitled to formal notice of a petition for administration; failure to provide formal notice can justify revocation of letters issued to a person with lesser entitlement.
- Opinions from foreign-law practitioners submitted by affidavit are not treated as equivalent to a foreign judgment for comity purposes, especially when they are conclusory and lack supporting citations.
- A party opposing summary judgment must present record evidence showing a genuine dispute of material fact; unsupported allegations (including accusations of hostility or unfitness) do not suffice, and issues not properly preserved in the summary-judgment record generally cannot support reversal.

## Conclusion

Piloto v. Lauria affirmed a Florida probate summary judgment that removed the attorney appointed at the children’s request as ancillary personal representative and appointed the decedent’s surviving spouse instead, holding that the Venezuelan judgment established heirship but did not control Florida ancillary administration, that Florida’s statutory preference favored the surviving spouse in an intestate estate, and that the failure to provide formal notice to the spouse supported revocation of the prior letters without any supported, preserved factual dispute barring summary judgment.


Piloto v. Lauria, 45 So. 3d 565 (2010)