FRANCIS JONES, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE ESTATE OF DEAN JONES, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
ROBERT ZAGRODNIK AND HOME INSURANCE, APPELLEES/CROSS-APPELLANTS

Fla. 5th DCA | 1992-06-19
No. 91-847
GOSHORN, C.J., and COBB, J., concur.
600 So. 2d 1265 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1992) Positive Treatment
Cited by 11 cases

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Synopsis

This case addresses whether an after-born child of a deceased negligence victim can recover additional insurance proceeds under the Wrongful Death Act, and whether a settlement release executed before the child's birth binds the child's wrongful death claim. The court held that after-born children are survivors under the Wrongful Death Act and that a valid release by the personal representative binds all survivors, including after-born children.


Holding

The court held that after-born children are survivors under the Wrongful Death Act to the same extent as children born prior to the parent's death, and that a valid release of the personal representative binds all survivors, including after-born children. However, the court affirmed that insurance policy limits apply per person injured, and since only three persons (the fiancée and the two parents as representatives) were injured by the operation of the vehicle, not the child, the policy limits had been exhausted.


Headnotes

[1] An after-born child is a survivor under the wrongful death statute, entitled to the same rights as a child born prior to the parent's death.

[2] The personal representative must maintain a wrongful death action for all survivors, and the statute does not distinguish between existing and after-born survivors.

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Key Quotes

“We held in Ellis v. Humana of Florida, Inc., 569 So.2d 827 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990), rev. denied, 581 So.2d 163 (Fla.1991), that an after-born child is a survivor under the wrongful death statute. Such a child is a survivor to the same extent as any child born prior to the death of the parent.”

Establishes that after-born children have the same survivor status as pre-death children under the Wrongful Death Act.

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Facts & Procedural History

Dean Jones was killed in a collision caused by Roger Zagrodnik's negligence. Jones's fiancée, who was two months pregnant at the time of the accident,…

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Opinion of the Court
HARRIS, Judge.

HARRIS, Judge.

Dean Jones was killed in a collision with a negligent Roger Zagrodnik. With Jones was his fiancee who was two months pregnant. For the purpose of this appeal, there is no question but that Jones was the father. Zagrodnik was insured by Home Insurance under a $100,000 per person/$300,000 per occurrence policy.

Home Insurance, on behalf of Zagrodnik, settled with the injured fiancee for $100,-000. It then settled with the parents of Jones and with the father of Jones, as personal representative of Jones’ estate, for $100,000. Appropriate releases were given.

Subsequent to the estate’s settlement, Jones’ fiancee delivered her child. Jones’ personal representative then brought this declaratory action against Zagrodnik and Home Insurance to determine the child’s rights under the Wrongful Death Act.1 In particular, the personal representative was seeking the remaining $100,000 under the $800,000 limit for the after-born child. The trial court, finding that the insurance company had paid all that was contemplated by its policy, entered summary judgment in favor of the defendants although holding that the release, executed by the personal representative, was invalid as to the interests of the fetus. The court reasoned that since the child was bom after the release, it could not be bound thereby.

The personal representative appeals the denial of the child’s rights to seek the additional $100,000 under the policy; Za-grodnik cross-appeals the holding that the personal representative’s release was an invalid release of the fetus’ rights under the Wrongful Death Act.

On the cross-appeal, we reverse and hold the release is a valid release of the after-born child’s rights. It is necessary that we rule on this issue because while the court’s ruling would explain why Home Insurance would have no further responsibility to the personal representative, it does not explain why further action was precluded against Zagrodnik.

We held in Ellis v. Humana of Florida, Inc., 569 So. 2d 827 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990), rev. denied, 581 So. 2d 163 (Fla.1991), that an after-born child is a survivor under the wrongful death statute. Such a child is a survivor to the same extent as any child born prior to the death of the parent. The Wrongful Death Act contemplates that only the personal representative can maintain the action and must do so for all survivors of the deceased. § 768.20, Fla.Stat. (1989).

The statute does not, nor shall we, distinguish between existing and after-born survivors. A valid release of the rights of one releases the rights of all. Similarly, the proceeds of the settlement must be held for the benefit of all survivors. The child may therefore have an action against the personal representative for an accounting of her share of the settlement proceeds.

We affirm the trial court on the direct appeal. We agree that the policy limits recovery based on the number of persons injured as a result of the operation of the insured’s automobile. See e.g., New Amsterdam Casualty v. Hart, 153 Fla. 840, 16 So. 2d 118 (1943). The estate and the survivors suffered loss, not directly from the collision, but from the loss of the deceased who was killed in the accident. All their claims are derivative from the deceased as. was the husband’s consortium claim in Hart.

Direct appeal — AFFIRMED. Cross-appeal — REVERSED.

GOSHORN, C.J., and COBB, J., concur. . There was no claim that this child has any rights other than as a survivor under the Wrongful Death Act. That is, there was no claim that the child (while a fetus) was injured in the accident.


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Cited By

  • Univ. Med. Ctr. v. Zeiler, 625 So. 2d 120 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)
    …a.Stat. (1991); Funchess v. Gulf Stream Apartments of Broward County, Inc., 611 So. 2d 43, 45 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992) (the statute requires a single action brought by personal representative to recover damages for all beneficiaries); Jones v. Zagrodnik, 600 So. 2d 1265 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992). Thus, in the presence of a non-specific settlement offer from a defendant, a personal representative is bound to proportion proceeds for the survivors and the estate in a reasonable and equitable manner. Accordingly, the order…
  • Roughton v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 129 So. 3d 1145 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013)
    …1] ful death action.... A survivor does not have actual veto power over the personal representative’s settlement decision. Instead, if the survivor objects to amount or apportionment, the authority of the court may be invoked.”); Jones v. Zagrodnik, 600 So. 2d 1265, 1266 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992) (holding that valid release of rights by the personal representative of the estate released the rights of the decedent’s after-born child, born after the release, as well as other survivors of the decedent). Ms. Roughton a…
  • GEICO Gen. Ins. Co. v. Arnold, 730 So. 2d 782 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)
    …sy, 12 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D187, 32 F. Supp. 2d 1333 (M.D.Fla.1998) (holding that “Florida courts have uniformly held that loss of consortium and wrongful death survivor actions are subject to the per-person limit of liability”); Jones v. Zagrodnik, 600 So. 2d 1265, 1266 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992) (holding that claims of all survivors of accident victim were derivative from victim and fell under per person limit of policy); Florida Ins. Guar. Ass’n, Inc. v. Cole, 573 So. 2d 868, 870-71 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)(holding that…

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