Opinion ID: 730529
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: prospective inheritance

Text: 5 Because Porcelli was not survived by a spouse or children, her mother is her only heir at law. Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 2105.06(E). One type of compensatory damages which an heir can recover is the loss of prospective inheritance. Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 2125.02(B)(4). 6 At the time of Porcelli's death, her mother was sixty-three years old. Dr. Rosen testified that, on an actuarial basis, the mother would have died before Porcelli, because of the age differential and because Porcelli was in good health. Where there is no reasonable expectation of inheriting from a child's estate, no recovery for pecuniary loss is allowed. See Wasilko v. United States, 300 F.Supp. 573, 601 (N.D.Ohio 1967), aff'd, 412 F.2d 859 (6th Cir.1969) (per curiam); Murray v. Long, 256 N.E.2d 225, 231 (Ohio Ct.App.1968). Fabens argues that a 1981 amendment to the Wrongful Death Act has changed the law so that the mother could recover for a prospective inheritance, but we fail to find that the amendment has made any substantive change in the recovery for prospective inheritance. 7 Fabens also claims that the application of the statute for loss of prospective inheritance is in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Ohio and United States Constitutions. The parties agree that the Equal Protection provision of the Ohio Constitution has the same scope and meaning as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. See Sorrell v. Thevenir, 633 N.E.2d 504 (Ohio 1994). In reviewing an Equal Protection claim, we must first examine whether a rational basis exists for the challenged action, unless a suspect class or fundamental right is at issue. San Antonio Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1 (1973). Fabens did not allege that the mother or siblings of Porcelli are members of a suspect class or that they had been denied a fundamental right. Neither their age nor parental status requires heightened scrutiny. See Massachusetts Bd. of Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307, 316 (1976). Fabens contends that the challenged Ohio law, as interpreted, is irrational, because it creates an inference that parents cannot recover for the loss of prospective inheritance. However, this law provides a rational method for the beneficiaries in wrongful death actions to recover compensatory damages. A parent can still recover when there is not much of an age differential between parent and child, or when the decedent's health might be worse than the parent's health. Under these circumstances, the scheme for recovery does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of either constitution.