THE Estate of Manuel B. Villagomez and the NMI Settlement Fund were directed by the federal court to meet and confer after a motion hearing on Thursday.
Designated Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood held a hearing for NMISF’s ex parte motion for declaratory relief, stay, and injunctive relief.
She directed the parties’ legal counsel “to meet and confer by Sunday, February 6, 2022.”
If there is no resolution reached by the parties, Judge Tydingco-Gatewood said she will issue an order.
At the hearing, attorney Robert T. Torres appeared for the Estate of Manuel B. Villagomez, and Colleen V. Manglona, administrator for the estate.
Attorney Nicole Torres-Ripple appeared for the NMISF, Trustee Joyce Tang appeared via videoconference, and NMISF Administrator Lilian Pangelinan also attended the hearing.
Torres has asked the court to deny the request of the NMISF to issue an order of stay and intervene in the probate proceedings of the decedent.
For her part, Torres-Ripple said the “claim of overpayment of retirement benefits against a decedent is outside the probate court’s jurisdiction in accordance with the NMISF’s administrative appeal process approved by the federal court.”
The NMISF’s claim, she added, is unrelated to the construction of a will, determination of heirs and successors, and the administration of the probate proceeding.
But according to Torres, if the NMISF’s motion is granted, the estate administrator and all deceased annuitants and class members would be compelled to an administrative forum before the NMISF and not the direct jurisdiction of the District Court.
He also said that the CNMI Superior Court retains jurisdiction to adjudicate the NMISF’s claim.
According to the NMISF’s emergency motion, it has a claim against the Estate of Manuel B. Villagomez based on an overpayment in retirement benefits amounting to over $56,000 paid prior to his passing on May 10, 2021.
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho, who presides over the probate proceedings in the local court, has scheduled an evidentiary/motion hearing on the NMISF’s motion to stay for April 4, at 10 a.m.
