Reed v. Blevins

Today’s decision is obviously unjust, but my disagreement is based not on abstract justice but on the fact that the majority’s unfortunate conclusion can be reached only by putting form above substance. There is nothing in either the statute or our decisions that requires us to go that far.

It is of course true that the statute requires an action for wrongful death to be brought in the name of the personal representative when one has been appointed, and our cases have uniformly enforced this requirement. But the personal representative is not the real party in interest. The recovery does not…