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In the Circu it Court for A nne Aru ndel Cou nty Case No. C-03-093940

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 13 September Term, 2006 ______________________________________

ALAN H. LEGUM, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF ARCHIE C. BROWN, JR. v. SHIRLEY BROWN, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF THOMAS JORDAN BROWN

______________________________________ Bell, C.J. Raker Wilner Cathell Harrell Battaglia Greene, JJ. ______________________________________ Opinion by Wilner, J. ______________________________________ Filed: October 18, 2006

The issue befo re us is whether, on this very sparse record, a plaintiff who recovered a money judgment against a Maryland d ecedent's E state from a Colorado court is entitled to have that judgm ent accord ed full faith a nd credit in Maryland. The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County said "no." The Court of Special Appeals sent the case back for further procee dings. W e shall sa y "yes." In July, 2003, Shirley Brown, as personal representative o f the Estate o f her late husband, Thom as Bro wn, rec overed from th e Distric t Court of El P aso, Co lorado , a judgment by default for $60,000 against the Estate of Archie Brown. Archie and Thomas B rown were brothe rs. Arch ie lived a nd died in Ma ryland; T homa s lived a nd died in Colo rado. On December 4, 2003, Shirley filed a petition in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County to "transfer" the Co lorado judgm ent. A copy of the judgmen t, certified by the clerk of the Colorado court, was attached to the petition. The Clerk of the Circuit Court recorded the Colorado judgment and gave notice of the recording to petitioner, Alan Legum, as personal representative of the Estate of Archie Brown. Mr. Legum filed a mo tion to strike the Colorado judgment on three grounds: (1) the Estate of Archie Brown had never been properly served with process in the Colorado case; (2) because Archie was neither a resident of Colorado nor conducted business there, the Colorado court had no jurisdiction over him; and (3) no claim had been filed by Shirley in the Orphans' Court for Anne Arundel County within six months after the death of Archie. Ms. Brown, acting pro se , responde d with a motion to "retain" the judgment, averring that the case was brought in Colorado because that is where "the injustice originated," th at Archie

did do business and had hired a lawyer in Colorado, that his Co lorado lawyer did not inform her of Arc hie's de ath, and that the ju dgme nt was entitled to full faith and cre dit. After a hearing, the court entered a brief order striking the judgment. In a footnote in that order, the court stated that its order was based on "all the rea sons stated b y Defenda nt's counse l in his written brief and through oral arguments," but it found, specifically, that Ms. Brown failed to file her claim with the Estate of Archie Brown within six months of Archie's death and that she failed to make proper service on the Estate. Following a denial of her motion for reconsider ation, Ms. B rown no ted an app eal. The Court of Spec ial Appeals conclud ed that the Circuit Court ha d erred in r elying on either of the two grounds noted specifically in the order. It held that there was proper service on Legu m under Colorado law and that the relevant issue was not w hether a claim against the Estate had been tim ely filed but only whether the Colora do court had fully litigated the question of its subject matter and personal jurisdiction and, if not, whether such jurisdiction existed. To that end, the appellate court vacated the Circuit Court's order striking the judgment and remanded the case for the Circuit Court "to confirm th at the jurisdictional issues were not fully litigated in Colorado, and, if they were n ot, to decide the issues, should they continue to be pressed by the Estate." Brown v. Legum , 166 Md. App. 401, 413-14, 890 A .2d 771, 779 (200 6). We granted M r. Legum's petition fo r certiorari and shall reverse the ju dgment o f the Cou rt of Specia l Appeals . We do n ot believe th at any remand is necess ary.

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