Title: Brown v. Mounger
Citation: 541 So. 2d 463
Docket Number: N/A
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: March 3, 1989

541 So. 2d 463 (1989)
Patricia BROWN
v.
Nathaniel MOUNGER and Clotile Mounger, as administrators of the estate of Nathan Mounger, deceased.
87-760.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
March 3, 1989.
William A. Scott, Jr. and R. Larry Bradford of Clark &amp; Scott, Birmingham, for appellant.
David Barnes of Newton, Barnes, Dunning, May &amp; Miller, Birmingham, for appellees.
ALMON, Justice.
Nathaniel and Clotile Mounger brought this action against Patricia Brown and Wayne Bradshaw for the wrongful death of their son, Nathan Mounger, who was killed on October 19, 1983, in an automobile accident in Calhoun County, Alabama. At the time of the accident, Nathan was 30 years old and a resident of Georgia, and the Moungers were residents of Michigan. The Moungers filed their complaint on October 19, 1984, alleging that they were the administrators of the estate of Nathan Mounger. The Moungers did not receive letters of administration in any state, however, until May 13, 1987, when they received such letters in Mississippi. Bradshaw entered into a pro tanto settlement with the Moungers and was dismissed as a defendant. On February 3, 1988, Brown filed a motion for summary judgment, but the court denied that motion. Brown then petitioned this Court for permission to appeal from the trial court's interlocutory order. This Court granted permission to appeal pursuant to the provisions of Rule 5, A.R.App.P., to determine whether the Moungers can maintain this action.
This case is similar to Downtown Nursing Home, Inc. v. Pool, 375 So. 2d 465 (Ala.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 930, 100 S. Ct. 1318, 63 L. Ed. 2d 763 (1980). In Pool, the decedent died on November 24, 1976. Suit was filed by the decedent's son on November 23, 1977. It was subsequently discovered that the plaintiff had not been appointed executor or administrator of the estate. On February 5, 1979, the plaintiff sought to amend the complaint to substitute as plaintiff, Pool, as administrator of the estate. Pool had not been named administrator until February 5, 1979. We held:
"`(a) A personal representative may commence an action....
"`(d) Such action must be commenced within two years from and after the death of the testator or intestate.'
"This action is statutory and did not exist at common law. Kennedy v. Davis, 171 Ala. 609, 55 So. 104 (1911). Under this statute the cause of action is vested in the personal representative, who acts as an agent of legislative appointment for the purpose of effectuating public policy. And this right is vested in the personal representative alone, except in the case of minors. Holt v. Stollenwerck, 174 Ala. 213, 56 So. 912 (1911).
"In Strickland v. Mobile Towing and Wrecking Co., 293 Ala. 348, 303 So. 2d 98 (1974), a suit was brought under the Jones Act one day prior to the expiration of the three year limitation period. The person bringing the suit was not appointed administrator until two days after the limitation period had expired.
Because the Moungers did not receive letters of administration within two years of Nathan's death, they are prohibited from bringing a wrongful death action against Brown. We hold, therefore, that the trial court erred in not granting Brown's motion for summary judgment.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
HORNSBY, C.J., and MADDOX, JONES and STEAGALL, JJ., concur.