In Re: Estate of William Anthony Lucy Rita Clark, Shelby County Assessor or Property, et al. v. Naomi Schutte, as Administratrix of the Estate of William Anthony Lucy

The Shelby County Assessor and Shelby County moved to intervene in a probate case in order to amend a prior order previously entered adjudicating a claim made against the decedent’s estate by the City of Memphis for delinquent personal property taxes. The would-be intervenors claimed as their interest in the case the possibility that the probate court’s decision might be deemed preclusive in a tangentially related chancery proceeding. The probate court denied the motion to intervene and ordered that the movants pay the estate’s attorney’s fees. We conclude that the movants did not possess a substantial legal interest in the litigation warranting their intervention under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 24.01, and we further conclude that the probate court did not abuse its discretion in finding the motion to be untimely. Accordingly, we affirm the probate court’s denial of the motion to intervene as well as its denial of a companion motion made under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 60.02. We, however, vacate its decision awarding the estate attorney’s fees.