Miller v. Jones

A defect of parties occurs when there has been a failure to join either a plaintiff or a defendant whose presence in the suit is necessary to give the court jurisdiction and authority to decide the controversy. When such a defect appears from the complaint itself, it is a ground for demurrer, G.S. 1-127(4), and a fatal defect unless the necessary party is brought in under G.S. 1-73. A superfluity of parties is not a defect of parties; it is a harmless surplusage which is no ground for demurrer. (“A ‘defect of parties’ applies to necessary parties, and not to unnecessary ones.” Shuford v.…