Opinion
Court of Appeals Case No. 20A-ES-1007
07-08-2021
Kenneth J. SCHAEFER, Appellant-Defendant, v. ESTATE OF Cletus P. SCHAEFER, Deceased, Appellee-Plaintiff
Attorneys for Appellant: Jean Blanton, L. Katherine Boren, Ziemer Stayman Weitzel & Shoulders, LLP, Evansville, Indiana Attorney for Appellee: Steven E. Ripstra, Ripstra Law Office, Jasper, Indiana
Attorneys for Appellant: Jean Blanton, L. Katherine Boren, Ziemer Stayman Weitzel & Shoulders, LLP, Evansville, Indiana
Attorney for Appellee: Steven E. Ripstra, Ripstra Law Office, Jasper, Indiana
OPINION ON REHEARING
May, Judge.
[1] Kenneth J. Schaefer files a petition for rehearing, asking this court to interpret Indiana Code section 29-1-17-3, which governs abatement of estate assets should the estate be insolvent. As the trial court did not rule on that issue in the order appealed to our court, any opinion we would render would be premature and purely advisory in nature. See State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. v. Glasgow , 478 N.E.2d 918, 926 (Ind. Ct. App. 1985) ("We are a court of review and will not decide such an issue until it properly has been decided at the trial level."), reh'g denied. It is well-established that our court does not issue advisory opinions. See Snyder v. King , 958 N.E.2d 764, 786 (Ind. 2011) (explaining the history, dating back to 1793, of the "cardinal principle of the judicial function ... that courts should not issue advisory opinions but should instead decide cases only on the specific facts of the particular case and not on hypothetical situations").
[2] We grant rehearing to clarify our reason for declining Kenneth's request to review an issue not decided by the trial court. We affirm our original opinion in all other respects.
[3] Affirmed.
Riley, J., and Altice, J., concur.