Armuress Sapp v. Rogers

McKINSTER J.

Edith Rogers appeals from her removal as administrator of the estate of her grandfather Roscoe Sapp, Sr. (decedent), who died in 1994. Armuress Sapp and Brian Lincoln, two of decedent's grandsons, separately petitioned to remove Rogers as administrator. The probate court found Rogers (1) had failed to comply with the court's 2001 instructions that she and her coadministrator (who died in 2003) sell the estate's remaining real estate holdings and distribute the net proceeds to the beneficiaries of the decedent's will; and (2) acted in bad faith toward the beneficiaries by trying to buy them out for much less than they would have received if she had timely sold the properties. The court therefore concluded Rogers had to be removed because she "mismanaged" the estate and was "incapable of properly executing the duties of the office" of administrator. ( Prob. Code, 1 § 8502, subds. (a), (b).) The probate court withdrew letters of administration issued to Rogers and appointed Armuress as special administrator.

In her briefs, Rogers challenges: (1) the 2001 order instructing the coadministrators to sell the estate's real property; (2) the probate court's 2016 denial of…