Goheen v. General Motors Corporation

This is a declaratory judgment proceeding to determine the rights of the parties under the Oregon Wrongful Death Act, OES 30.020, as the result of an automobile accident in which two nuns were killed. Both were members of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, a religious order which operates various schools. One nun was a qualified school administrator, while the other was a qualified school librarian, but neither earned or retained any earnings of money or property. Both had taken simple vows of poverty and also left wills under which Sisters was the sole beneficiary. Neither…