Legal Opinion
Woods v. Estate of Woods
District Court of Appeal of Florida
Decided October 23, 1996No. Nos. 96-1917, 96-2415PublishedCited by 2 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
WARNER, Judge.
Appellant petitioned the trial court to declare Graham Woods as deceased because he had perished at sea in the sinking of a cruise ship during a hurricane. Believing that section 731.103, Florida Statutes (1995), precluded the court from declaring Mr. Woods dead before the expiration of five years, the trial court denied the petition. We reverse.
Graham Woods was a crew member of the cruise ship, Club Royale. As Hurricane Erin approached on August 2,1995, the captain of the ship, Lars Engebretsen, took it out of port and tried to ride the hurricane out in the open sea off the…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Groover v. SimonhoffDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida · 1963
- Johns v. BurnsSupreme Court of Florida · 1953
- Mutual Life Ins. v. HamiltonCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · 1944
- In re the Estate of ConradNew York Surrogate's Court · 1981
3Cited by2 opinions
- State v. EdwardsNebraska Supreme Court · 2009
- Andrews v. Estate of AndrewsDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida · 2014