LAU, J.
¶ 1 When a claim against an estate in probate is rejected by certified mail, RCW 11.40.100(1) requires the claimant to file suit against the estate within 30 days after the postmark date. Because Teresa Vaux-Michel failed to file suit against T. Mark Stover's estate within 30 days after the postmark on her rejected claim, and because CR 6 does not apply to extend this time limitation, we reverse and remand to the trial court with instructions to vacate the judgment and fees and costs award, determine the personal representative's request for trial fees and costs, and dismiss the action with prejudice. We decline to award the estate fees and costs on appeal.
¶ 2 On September 16, 2011, Vaux-Michel filed a claim against Stover's estate. She alleged he had written a $150,000 check as a gift to her in anticipation of his death. When the personal representative failed to act on the claim, Vaux-Michel sent notice to the personal representative on October 19, 2011, that she intended to petition the court to allow the claim. On December 19, 2011, the personal representative rejected the claim. On January 23, 2012, Vaux-Michel petitioned the court to allow the claim. The trial court denied the personal representative's motion to dismiss the suit as untimely under RCW 11.40.100(1). A commissioner of this court denied the personal representative's motion for discretionary review. The case proceeded to a bench trial. After the close of evidence, the court ruled in Vaux-Michel's favor, entered judgment for $150,000, and awarded attorney fees and costs. The trial court entered the following unchallenged findings of fact and challenged conclusions of law relevant to the suit's timeliness:
The personal representative appeals the order denying its motion to dismiss on time bar grounds and the final judgment.
¶ 3 This action under the Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act (TEDRA), chapter 11.96A RCW, requires us to determine whether Vaux-Michel's suit is time barred under RCW 11.40.100(1), which requires a claimant to sue the personal representative within 30 days after notification of rejection by the personal representative. The following chronology of events is undisputed:
¶ 4 The estate contends that Vaux-Michel's creditor claim is time barred under the plain language of RCW 11.40.100(1), regardless of the estate's noncompliance with RCW 11.40.080(2)'s time requirements. Vaux-Michel asserts, as she did below, two grounds as to why her suit is timely.
¶ 5 Whether Vaux-Michel timely sued the estate raises a question of statutory construction that we review de novo. Dep't of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, LLC, 146 Wn.2d 1, 9, 43 P.3d 4 (2002). A court's objective in construing a statute is to determine the legislature's intent. Campbell & Gwinn, 146 Wash.2d at 9, 43 P.3d 4. "[I]f the statute's meaning is plain on its face, then the court must give effect to that plain meaning as an expression of legislative intent." Campbell & Gwinn, 146 Wash.2d at 9-10, 43 P.3d 4. Plain meaning is discerned from the ordinary meaning of the language at issue, the context of the statute in which that provision is found, related provisions, and the statutory scheme as a whole. Campbell & Gwinn, 146 Wash.2d at 9-12, 43 P.3d 4. An undefined statutory term should be given its usual and ordinary meaning. Burton v. Lehman, 153 Wn.2d 416, 422-23, 103 P.3d 1230 (2005). Statutory provisions and rules should be harmonized whenever possible.
Christensen v. Ellsworth, 162 Wn.2d 365, 372, 173 P.3d 228 (2007) (quoting Stikes Woods Neighborhood Ass'n v. City of Lacey, 124 Wn.2d 459, 463, 880 P.2d 25 (1994) (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted)).
¶ 6 Vaux-Michel submitted her $150,000 creditor's claim to Stover's estate on September 16, 2011. The estate rejected this claim more than 30 days later, on December 19, 2011, by mailing notification of rejection to Vaux-Michel's attorney by certified mail. This notification informed Vaux-Michel that she "must bring suit in the proper court within 30 days after notification of rejection or the claim will be forever barred." Under RCW 11.40.100(1), quoted above, to be timely, Vaux-Michel was required to bring suit no later than January 18, 2012, 30 days after notification of rejection.
¶ 7 Vaux-Michel does not contend that RCW 11.40.100(1) is ambiguous. Indeed, RCW 11.40.100(1) plainly states that a claimant like Vaux-Michel "must bring suit against the personal representative within thirty days after notification of rejection or the claim is forever barred." In Christensen, our Supreme Court held that CR 6(a), the time computation rule that excludes weekends and holidays from periods of less than seven days, did not apply to RCW 59.12.030(3)'s three-day period for a landlord to commence an unlawful detainer action after serving notice. Christensen, 162 Wash.2d at 369, 173 P.3d 228. Applying the plain meaning rule to the statutory term "day," the court reasoned:
Christensen, 162 Wash.2d at 373, 173 P.3d 228 (alterations in original). As in Christensen, the statute here does not specify whether "day" means a business day, court day, or calendar day. Accordingly, we apply the ordinary meaning of "day," which includes weekends. "In the absence of a specific statutory definition, words in a statute are given their common law or ordinary meaning." State v. Chester, 133 Wn.2d 15, 22, 940 P.2d 1374 (1997). Vaux-Michel's suit is untimely because she petitioned the court to allow her claim 35 calendar days after notification of rejection.
¶ 8 This approach also furthers the timely and efficient resolution of claims against the estate because the statute establishes a clear bright line rule within which a claimant "must" bring an action on a claim. In Johnston v. Von Houck, 150 Wn.App. 894, 209 P.3d 548 (2009), Division Two of this court agreed with the personal representative's contention that RCW 11.40.100(1) is worded to bar untimely creditor claims:
Johnston, 150 Wash.App. at 901-02, 209 P.3d 548.
¶ 9 As noted above, Vaux-Michel asserts that the estate's noncompliance with RCW 11.40.080(2)'s time provisions, as a matter of law, dispensed with any obligation on her part to bring suit within RCW 11.40.100(1)'s 30-day deadline. But this argument is not supported by any relevant case authority and, as discussed above, is contrary to the plain meaning of the statute. Nor does she identify any provision in chapter 11.40's comprehensive scheme governing claims against the estate to support her argument.
RCW 11.40.080(2) states:
The statute's plain text provides a claimant like Vaux-Michel a permissive and simple mechanism intended to prompt a personal representative who fails to make a decision on a submitted claim. See Johnston, 150 Wash.App. at 901-02, 209 P.3d 548. In that circumstance, the claimant can notify the personal representative that she intends to petition the court to allow the claim unless the personal representative acts on the claim within 20 days. If the personal representative fails to act, the claimant may petition the court to allow the claim. Here, Vaux-Michel's notice to the personal representative of her intent to petition the court to allow the claim prompted the personal representative to make a decision on the claim. Once the personal representative rejected the claim, RCW 11.40.100(1) required Vaux-Michel to "bring suit against the personal representative within thirty days after notification of
¶ 10 We are not persuaded by Vaux-Michel's unsupported contention that the personal representative's failure to reject her claim according to the time requirements in RCW 11.40.080(2) dispensed with any obligation to comply with RCW 11.40.100(1)'s time requirements. RCW 11.40.080(2) and.100(1) operate together to facilitate the prompt and efficient resolution of estate claims. See In re Pers. Restraint of Albritton, 143 Wn.App. 584, 593, 180 P.3d 790 (2008) ("The provisions of an act must be viewed in relation to each other and, if possible, harmonized to effect the act's overall purpose."). Nothing in RCW 11.40.080(2)'s or .100(1)'s text suggests that failure to comply with .080(2)'s time requirements excuses compliance with .100(1)'s time bar rule.
¶ 11 As discussed above, Vaux-Michel contends in the alternative that CR 6(e) adds three extra days for mailing to the 30-day time requirement.
CR 6(e) provides:
(Boldface omitted.) Under CR 81(a), the civil rules apply to all civil proceedings "[e]xcept where inconsistent with rules or statutes applicable to special proceedings...." TEDRA actions are special proceedings. RCW 11.96A.090(1) provides, "A judicial proceeding under [title 11] is a special proceeding under the civil rules of court. The provisions of [title 11] governing such actions control over any inconsistent provision of the civil rules."
¶ 12 But even assuming the civil rules applied, application of CR 6(e) to RCW 11.40.100(1)'s 30-day time requirement is contrary to the plain language of the statute. As discussed above, the legislature intended for the phrase "thirty days" to convey its ordinary meaning of 30 calendar days. Thirty calendar days is inconsistent with CR 6(e), which adds three days for mailing, and with CR 6(a), which extends this period by excluding weekends and legal holidays.
In re Estate of Toth, 138 Wn.2d 650, 655, 981 P.2d 439 (1999). Unlike the policy concerns that drove the adoption of CR 6(e), RCW 11.40.100(1) provides a clearly-defined period within which a creditor must sue in court on his or her claim — 30 calendar days
¶ 13 Vaux-Michel relies on Canterwood Place LP. v. Thande, 106 Wn.App. 844, 25 P.3d 495 (2001) (superseded by statute), and Capello v. State, 114 Wn.App. 739, 60 P.3d 620 (2002), to argue that CR 6(e) applies.
¶ 14 Vaux-Michel also argues that applying CR 6(e) to RCW 11.40.100(1) "is sound public policy because litigants and potential litigants are entitled to know that a matter as basic as time computation will be carried out in an easy, clear, and consistent manner...." Resp't's Br. at 26. This argument is unpersuasive because the legislature has already spoken on this point. Our Supreme Court adopted CR 6(e) in 1967. See Order Adopting Civil Rules for Superior Court, 71 Wash.2d at xvii, xxxvii (1967). The legislature enacted RCW 11.40.100(1) in its present form 30 years later. LAWS OF 1997, ch. 252, § 16. We presume that the legislature enacts laws with full knowledge of existing laws. Thurston County v. Gorton, 85 Wn.2d 133, 138, 530 P.2d 309 (1975). Thus, we presume that the legislature enacted RCW 11.40.100(1) with full knowledge of the statute's inconsistency with CR 6(e). RCW 11.40.100(1) reflects the legislature's intent to "further the timely resolution of claims against an estate." Johnston, 150 Wash.App. at 901, 209 P.3d 548.
¶ 15 The estate requests trial and appellate attorney fees under TEDRA and RAP 18.1. Under TEDRA, courts have broad discretion to award attorney fees and costs in any proceeding governed by Title 11 RCW. See Wash. Builders Benefit Trust v. Building Indus. Ass'n, 173 Wn.App. 34, 84, 293 P.3d 1206 (2013) ("RCW 11.96A.150 provides both the trial court and this court with broad discretion to award attorney fees in a trust dispute."). Fees may be awarded to any party "in such amount and in such manner as the court determines to be equitable." RCW 11.96A.150(1)(c). We may "consider any relevant factor, including whether a case presents novel or unique issues." In re Guardianship of Lamb, 173 Wn.2d 173, 198, 265 P.3d 876 (2011); see, e.g., In re Estate of D'Agosto, 134 Wn.App. 390, 402, 139 P.3d 1125 (2006) (fees unwarranted because case involved "novel issues of statutory construction"); Bale v. Allison, 173 Wn.App. 435, 461, 294 P.3d 789 (2013) (fees unwarranted because case involved "unique issue").
¶ 16 The present case involves a novel issue of statutory construction — whether CR 6(e) applies to RCW 11.40.100(1). This issue was litigated both at trial and on appeal. We deny the estate's appellate fee and cost requests. Given our disposition, we likewise vacate Vaux-Michel's attorney fee judgment.
¶ 17 For the reasons discussed above, we hold that Vaux-Michel's suit is untimely under RCW 11.40.100(1) and CR 6 does not apply to this statute. The trial court erred when it denied the personal representative's motion to dismiss the claim and, after trial, entered judgment and awarded fees and costs to Vaux-Michel. We reverse and remand with instructions to vacate the judgment and fees and costs award. We decline to award fees and costs on appeal. The personal representative's request for fees in the trial court may be taken up on remand.
WE CONCUR: LEACH, C.J., and BECKER, J.