Estate of Shirley J. Mills, Deceased Howard T. Linden, Personal Representative v. Trizec Properties

BOYCE F. MARTIN, Jr., Circuit Judge.

The Estate of Shirley Mills filed a wrongful death action against Trizec Properties, which the parties agreed to arbitrate. After the arbitration panel awarded the estate $100,000, Trizec refused to pay and moved for judgment in this proceeding, claiming there was no valid personal representative of the Estate and thus, the arbitration agreement was void. The district court granted Trizec’s motion for summary judgment, and the Estate appealed. For the following reasons, we reverse.

In June 1985, Shirley Mills died from complications arising from an injury…