Ruttenberg v. Ruttenberg

Opinion

KITCHING, J.

Introduction

A wrongful death complaint named an heir of the decedent as a nominal defendant, but plaintiffs failed either to serve the complaint on that heir or involve her in the subsequent settlement. Even though the omitted heir had knowledge that the wrongful death action existed, plaintiffs’ failure to serve the complaint resulted in the failure to join the omitted heir in plaintiffs’ wrongful death suit. In these circumstances, the omitted heir has a right to bring an action against the wrongful death plaintiffs to recover damages for her omission from the underlying…