A.E. v. M.C.

Courts throughout this country universally recognize that a deceased person lacks the capacity to be sued, but the courts are split on whether a complaint naming a deceased person as the sole defendant is a legal nullity that fails to invoke the subject-matter jurisdiction of the court. See Currier v. Sutherland, 218 P.3d 709, 713 (Colo.2009) (citing 6A Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1559 (2d ed.1990)). Older cases have taken the position that “a defect in capacity deprives the court of subject-matter jurisdiction, since a real case or controversy…