In re Estate of Infant Fontaine

This appeal from a denial by the Sullivan County Probate Court (Spanos, J.) of a petition for distribution presents the question of how to distribute a wrongful death award to the estate of a viable fetus, when one of the estate’s two beneficiaries was found to be fifty percent negligent in causing the death of the fetus. We hold that the liability of the defendant insurance company is not reduced by the beneficiary’s comparative negligence. We also hold that, after allowable expenses have been deducted, the award is to be distributed in equal halves to the two beneficiaries. Accordingly, we…