Court Opinion

ID: 9599430
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:18:39.742876+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:45.257492
License: Public Domain

*726Finley, J.
(concurring) — I have signed and concur in the majority opinion, but will add the following comment.
It seems to me our cases cited by the majority construing the “Wrongful Death Statute” have been overwritten and contain a lot of unnecessary legal legerdemain relative to the statute, rights and benefits and the institution of lawsuits thereunder. I think it is time for the court to simply say: (a) that the statute creates rights or benefits for the family survivors of a wrongful death decedent; (b) that resultant claims for wrongful death loss, i.e., damages, are personal and distinct as to each individual survivor; (c) that such claims or causes of action are to be asserted in court pursuant to the wrongful death statute by a nominal plaintiff, i.e., personal representative, duly selected and appointed as provided by law; (d) that the personal representative must act in a quasi-fiduciary capacity for each survivor regarding their separate and individual interests or claims; (e) that the estate of the deceased as such has no interest, claim or function under the wrongful death statute.
On the basis of the foregoing, as well as the analysis and reasoning of the majority opinion, I concur.
Wright and Brachtenbach, JJ., concur with Finley, J.