NORMA LEE RANDOLPH, FOR USE AND BENEFIT OF CLIFFORD L. RANDOLPH, JR., AND LINDA LOU RANDOLPH, MINORS, BY THEIR NEXT BEST FRIEND, FANNIE CATHERINE MCCOY, APPELLANTS,
v.
R. P. CLACK, INDIVIDUALLY, AND R. P. CLACK, EVELYN N. CLACK AND CLAIRE N. MCLEOD, AS TRUSTEES OF CLACK TRUCK AND EQUIPMENT COMPANY, A DISSOLVED FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEES
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Minor children cannot maintain a wrongful death action for their father's death if the widow has already settled her claim under the statute, as the statute does not grant them standing in such circumstances.
Minors' father died in a car accident. The father's widow (not the minors' mother) sued for wrongful death, settled her claim, and dismissed the actio…
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An action was brought in behalf of Clifford L. Randolph Jr., and Linda Lou Randolph, minors, against R. P. Clack individually and himself and others as trustees of a dissolved corporation to recover damages for the death of the father of the children alleged to have been caused by Clack’s negligent operation of an automobile owned by the corporation.
According to the averments of the complaint, the minors are the children of Fannie Catherine McCoy and Clifford L. Randolph. The parents were divorced and the custody of the children was awarded the mother. Afterward Randolph married Norma Lee Randolph. Then he was killed and his wife brought an action under Sec. 768.02, Florida Statutes 1955, and F.S.A., for damages. Her claim was settled and the action was' dismissed. In the action no specific claim for damages to the children was presented.-
The complaint in the present case was dismissed because the judge held the view that the plaintiffs were not authorized by the statute to maintain the action.
The parties-plaintiff were curiously described as the second wife for the use and-benefit of the children “by their next best friend,” the first wife. Out of the ruling; say the appellants, arises the question whether or not minor children of a de*271ceased father may maintain in their own name or the name of the father’s widow an action for wrongful death of the father when the widow is not their mother and has previously brought an action in her own behalf without presenting any claim on behalf of the children.
Appellants’ argument is very appealing but it fails to convince us that an injustice which may have occurred by application of the statute should be cured by judicial action for were we to hold that they should be allowed to proceed with their action it would amount to our amending rather than applying the provisions of the law.
Long ago the Supreme Court held that at common law no one had a right to recover for the wrongful death of another and that the right created by' statute éxisted only in the ones to whom by statute it was given. Louisville & N. R. Co. v. Jones, 45 Fla. 407, 34 So. 246. It is true that in Haddock for Use and Benefit of Wiggins v. Florida Motor Lines Corporation, 150 Fla. 848, 9 So.2d 98, the Supreme Court invoked the provisions of Sec. 4 of the Declaration of Rights of the Constitution, F.S.A. securing to every person remedy for injury done him and in the same case receded from anything written in Mock v. Evans Light and Ice Company, 88 Fla. 113, 101 So. 203, in conflict with the views expressed.
However, it must be. noted that in. the Haddock and Mock cases the Supreme Court was not dealing with Sec. 768.02, supra, but with Sec. 768.03, Florida Statutes 1955, and F.S.A., which provides that the father of a minor child, or,- if he be not living, the mother, may bring an action for the death of the child by wrongful act. Moreover the salient facts in each of the cases differ materially from those presented here.
In the Mock case an adoptive mother had undertaken to maintain' ah action for the death of the minor child, though the father was living, and the Supreme Court held she had no such right.
In the Haddock case the parents of a minor child had been divorced and the child had been placed in the custody of the mother. Then the child was killed and the mother instituted an action to recover for the wrongful death. The father undertook to release the defendant from liability for the death. The Supreme Court held that the mother could sue and that the father could not bind his former wife by the release he had executed.
But we do not feel free to liberalize the construction of Sec. 768.02, supra, so as to make it read that although minor children may sue only if there is no widow surviving the deceased they still may sue, after the widow has settled her claim, if they are children of the deceased by a former marriage on the theory, presumably, that she was compensated for her loss, while the children were not.
Perhaps remedial legislation more thoroughly providing for eventualities that could result in injustice, such as the failure of a surviving spouse to sue, or to squander, to the detriment of children, of money recovered or, as in this case, the recovery by a spouse who has no responsibility for the welfare of the children of her mate from a former union, is necessary, and these situations may commend themselves to the legislature but we cannot arrogate to this court the power to operate so extensively in what we consider a legislative field.
Affirmed.
KANNER, C. J., and ALLEN, J., concur.
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McKIBBEN v. Mallory, 293 So. 2d 48 (Fla. 1974)…d on by the appellate courts of this state in Garner v. Ward, 251 So. 2d 252 (Fla.1971); Ellis v. Brown, 77 So. 2d 845 (Fla.1955); Fussell v. Douberly, 206 So. 2d 231 (Fla.App.1968); Holland v. Hall, 145 So. 2d 552 (Fla.App.1962); Randolph v. Clack, 113 So. 2d 270 (Fla.App.1959). These courts suggested the need for remedial legislation in the area of wrongful death. The purpose of the Legislature in enacting Chapter 72-35, Laws of Florida, was to consolidate the wrongful death statutes of Florida into one coh…
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Garner v. Ward, 251 So. 2d 252 (Fla. 1971)…without remedy for their loss of support. In its order, the District Court of Appeal relied on three prior decisions: Fussell v. Douberly, 206 So. 2d 231 (Fla.App.2d, 1968); Holland v. Hall, 145 So. 2d 552 (Fla.App.lst, 1962); and Randolph v. Clack, 113 So. 2d 270 (Fla.App.2d, 1959). [*254] In Fussell, supra, a mother died, leaving a spouse and minor dependent children, the spouse being a stepparent. The Court held that only the stepfather could maintain an action under the literal terms of Fla.Stat. §§ 768.0…
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Holland v. Hall, 145 So. 2d 552 (Fla. 1st DCA 1962)…erein indicated, but we have no alternative but to reverse the judgment appealed and remand the cause for a new trial on all issues.3 Reversed and remanded. CARROLL, DONALD K., C. J., and RAWLS, J., concur. . See Randolph v. Clack, (Fla.App.1959) 113 So. 2d 270. . See Ellis v. Brown, (Fla.1955) 77 So. 2d 845. . Marvin v. Byrd, (Fla.1953) 67 So. 2d 416; Allen v. Powell et al. (1943) 152 Fla. 443, 12 So. 2d 378.…
Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co. v. Jones, 45 Fla. 407 (Fla. 1903)
- Metcalf v. Barrow, 150 Fla. 847 (Fla. 1942)
- Haddock v. Fla. Motor Lines Corp., 150 Fla. 848 (Fla. 1942)
- Ila L. C. Mock v. Evans Light & Ice Co., 88 Fla. 113 (Fla. 1924)