Under Tennessee law, most wrongful death lawsuits are filed by the decedent’s surviving spouse. Sometimes, several years pass before the wrongful death lawsuit comes to trial and, in the meantime, the surviving spouse who filed the wrongful death lawsuit remarries. Is evidence of the re-marriage admissible at the trial of…
Where decedent was survived by two children, and those two children filed a wrongful death claim pro se purporting to assert claims on their own behalf and on behalf of the other four children, the complaint was only proper to the extent the two plaintiffs were asserting their own right…
Where the person who executed an arbitration agreement in connection with decedent’s admission to a nursing home had a power of attorney for decedent, but that power of attorney did not mention the ability to make health care decisions, the arbitration agreement was unenforceable. Further, decedent’s wrongful death beneficiaries would…
Tennessee wrongful death lawyers may wish to read my newest article in the Tennessee Bar Journal, “”Wrongful Death of a Zygote?” The article discusses a recent important change to Tennessee wrongful death law.
Where decedent had filed a personal injury and loss of consortium case in West Virginia, settled that case, and then received a portion of the settlement proceeds before his death, the Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of this Tennessee case filed by decedent’s heirs “seeking to have the settlement proceeds…
A motion for summary judgment cannot be based solely on “unverified reworded statements of some of the factual allegations of the complaint,” along with unsworn, unverified, and unsigned exhibits. In addition, when a defendant asserts their Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination in an answer or in response to discovery…
A surviving spouse maintains priority to file a wrongful death action, even if the surviving spouse’s alleged negligence caused or contributed to the decedent’s death. In Nelson v. Myres, No. M2015-01857-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. March 5, 2018), decedent died in a car accident. The daughter filed a wrongful death action, naming several…
For your reading pleasure – my newest article in the Tennessee Bar Journal. The article discusses the responsibility imposed on one who decides to bring a Tennessee wrongful death suit and how fault allocations against that person can complicate the case.
In at least some situations, a surviving spouse can properly file a pro se wrongful death complaint, because the decedent’s right of action actually “passes to” the surviving spouse under Tennessee’s wrongful death statutes. In Beard v. Branson, No. M2014-01770-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. Aug. 30. 2017), plaintiff’s wife died of sepsis after…
In Ramsey v. Cocke County, Tennessee, No. E2016-02145-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 23, 2017), plaintiff sued the county, the police department, and the county emergency communications district for wrongful death after her daughter committed suicide. The trial court granted summary judgment to defendants, but the Court of Appeals reversed, holding…