Opinion ID: 1717847
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Annie as beneficiary

Text: The wrongful death action is a statutory creation. Ark.Code Ann. § 16-62-102 (1987). Subsection (d) of the statute lists the beneficiaries of the action. Included among the listed beneficiaries is surviving spouse. Annie's sole claim to the proceeds of the wrongful death award is as Carroll Standridge's surviving spouse. In view of the invalidity of Annie's marriage to Carroll, she was not his surviving spouse, and thus she may not share in the proceeds of the settlement. Annie argues that (a) Act 46 of 1989 validated her marriage to Carroll Standridge, (b) Sharon Standridge is precluded from contending the marriage was invalid because of laches, estoppel, and waiver, and (c) this court had no authority to promulgate Ark.R.Civ.P. 58 and Administrative Order 2 which required us to hold the marriage invalid in the earlier appeal. Although Annie seeks no relief from the judgment, she states these arguments in the form of a cross-appeal. We will treat them as arguments offered to sustain the result reached by the trial court in addition to the one given by the court.