State ex rel. Smith v. Court of Common Pleas

The issue presented in this cause is whether a writ of prohibition should issue which would prevent the respondent-appellee lower court from proceeding with the will contest action now before it.

The question of whether a writ of prohibition can be used to prevent the exercise of jurisdiction by an inferior court has often been addressed by this court. The rule which emerges from the myriad of cases is that “[a] court having general jurisdiction of the subject matter of an action has authority to determine its own jurisdiction on the issue raised, and a party challenging its jurisdiction has a…