Nutter v. Woodard

According to the nullity doctrine, as set forth in Chandler v. Dunlop, 311 Mass. 1, 5 (1942), a complaint brought against a deceased person is one “brought against nobody,” and, because such an action is void from the beginning, any subsequent amendment of the complaint does not relate back, for purposes of the statute of limitations, to the date of the initial filing. The issue before us is whether the instant case is governed by the nullity doctrine or, instead, by the reasoning in Holmquist v. Starr, 402 Mass. 92 (1988), which narrowed that doctrine.

On September 4, 1986, Monica M. Nutter…