§ 13.3.3.2 BROWN CASE SAYS COMMON FUND RECOVERY NOW AVAILABLE

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 13.3.3.2 Brown Case Says Common Fund Recovery Now Available

Subsequently, however, in the watershed case of In re Estate of Brown, 137 Ariz. 309, 670 P.2d 414 (App. 1983), the court of appeals held adoption of the UPC conferred additional jurisdiction upon the probate court such that it could now grant equitable relief under the common fund doctrine. The Brown court based its ruling on the enactment of A.R.S. § 14-1103 as part of the UPC. That statute, which has not changed since the Brown ruling, reads: "Unless displaced by the particular provisions of this title, the principles of law and equity supplement its provisions." The Brown court found that this statute "expand[s] the jurisdiction of the probate court and confer[s] power upon it that it did not have when Balke and its...