Bither v. Country Mutual Insurance

OPINION

DOWNIE, Judge.

¶ 1 In this opinion, we hold that a wrongful death statutory beneficiary may not recover uninsured motorist (“UM”) benefits under an insurance policy where the beneficiary is not herself an insured. Because the superior court concluded otherwise, we reverse and remand.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2 Jennifer Bither’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Felicia Edwards, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by seventeen-year-old Laura Varker. Edwards was killed as a result of a collision between vehicles driven by Varker and Bryant Wilkerson, an uninsured motorist. Varker’s parents…