Hitt v. J. B. Coghill, Inc.

OPINION

MATTHEWS, Justice.

AS 13.16.460(a)(1) provides that all claims against a decedent’s estate arising before his death are barred unless presented within four months after the date notice to creditors is first published in a newspaper of general circulation. 1 Appellant plead this statute as an affirmative defense in her answer to appellee’s complaint. However, because of her non-compliance with a pretrial order requiring the exchange of exhibits and witness lists, she was precluded at the trial from presenting proof of the date of the first publication of notice to creditors. 2 As a…