Carolyn Glenn v. Alisa J. Caldwell and Bonita J. Caldwell, as personal representatives of the Estate of Bonnie Quinton Caldwell, Jr., deceased; and Dorothy J. Caldwell

── Carolyn Glenn v. Alisa J. Caldwell and Bonita J. Caldwell, as personal representatives of the Estate of Bonnie Quinton Caldwell, Jr., deceased; and Dorothy J. Caldwell ── Case No.: SC-2025-0494 Court: Supreme Court of Alabama Date: March 27, 2026 Author: Tommy Bryan Category: General Rel: March 27, 2026 Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0650), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter. SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA OCTOBER TERM, 2025-2026 _________________________ SC-2025-0494 _________________________ Carolyn Glenn v. Alisa J. Caldwell and Bonita J. Caldwell, as personal representatives of the Estate of Bonnie Quinton Caldwell, Jr., deceased; and Dorothy J. Caldwell Appeal from Tallapoosa Circuit Court (CV-24-31) BRYAN, Justice. Carolyn Glenn appeals from an April 30, 2025, judgment of the Tallapoosa Circuit Court. For the reasons explained below, we reverse the circuit court's judgment and remand this cause with instructions for SC-2025-0494 the circuit court to enter a judgment dismissing the action for a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Background Bonnie Quinton Caldwell, Jr. ("Bonnie"), is deceased and lived in Tallapoosa County at the time of his death. Alisa J. Caldwell ("Alisa") and Bonita J. Caldwell ("Bonita") are Bonnie's daughters, and Dorothy J. Caldwell ("Dorothy") was Bonnie's wife. Acting pro se, Glenn commenced this action in the Tallapoosa Circuit Court in June 2024. Glenn styled her complaint as a "motion to contest the will, petition for equitable adoption by estoppel and petition to continue as administrator of the estate of Bonnie Caldwell that was administered in Montgomery Probate Court." It appears from the record that, in 2024, the Montgomery Probate Court issued letters of administration on Bonnie's estate to Glenn, but Dorothy thereafter filed a motion in that court seeking to revoke the letters of administration and to terminate the estate proceedings. It appears that the Montgomery Probate Court then transferred the action to the Tallapoosa Probate Court. The Tallapoosa Probate Court apparently entered an order admitting a document purporting to be 2 SC-2025-0494 Bonnie's will to probate and granting letters testamentary to Alisa and Bonita in March 2024; Alisa and Bonita, as the personal representatives of Bonnie's estate, and Dorothy, as Bonnie's surviving spouse, are referred to collectively as "the proponents." In April 2024, the Tallapoosa Probate Court apparently entered a separate order revoking the letters of administration issued to Glenn by the Montgomery Probate Court.1 Glenn commenced this action in the Tallapoosa Circuit Court in June 2024. The precise nature of Glenn's pro se complaint in the circuit court is somewhat unclear, but, from all that appears to this Court, Glenn was 1The record on appeal contains copies of the court records described in this paragraph, which were produced by the proponents, but the copies are not certified copies. However, there appears to be no dispute regarding their authenticity. See Poff v. Hayes, 763 So. 2d 234, 240 n.3 (Ala. 2000)(referencing affidavit testimony and reasoning as follows: " 'The best evidence of a judicial proceeding is the record itself, or a copy where copies are admissible or must be used as proof of such records.' Kroger Co. v. Puckett, 351 So. 2d 582, 587 (Ala. Civ. App. 1977); see also Abingdon Mills v. Grogan, 167 Ala. 146, 153-54, 52 So. 596, 599 (1910); Rule 1005, Ala. R. Evid.; Rule 44, Ala. R. Civ. P.; and Charles W. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama