HARRY L. BASSETT, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF THE LATE THOMAS EMIL MEYER, ETC., ET AL., PLAINTIFFS,
v.
MERLIN, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, ETC., ET AL., DEFENDANTS
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Parents of a deceased adult cannot recover net accumulations under § 768.21(6)(a) because they are ascendants, not lineal descendants.
Plaintiff, as personal representative, sued for the wrongful death of Thomas Emil Meyer. Meyer was over 21, unmarried, had no children, and no one dep…
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[*544] HAVERFIELD, Judge.
This cause comes to us by way of certified question pursuant to FAR 4.6, 32 F.S. A. Thomas Emil Meyer, a Swiss national, was killed in an automobile accident near Florida City on May 18, 1973. Plaintiff, Harry L. Bassett, as personal representative of the Estate of Thomas Emil Meyer, filed suit pursuant to §§ 768.16-768.27, Fla.Stat., F.S.A. on behalf of the deceased and his parents as sole survivors.
Thomas Meyer was killed instantly. At the time of the accident he was over 21 years of age, was not married, had no children and did not contribute to the support of any person. His parents are his only survivors as defined by § 768.18(1), Fla. Stat., F.S.A. The following question, which the trial judge certified for our determination, was presented:
WHERE DECEDENT WAS OVER 21, UNMARRIED, LEFT NO CHILDREN AND NO ONE DEPENDENT ON HIM, CAN HIS PARENTS RECOVER NET ACCUMULATIONS UNDER § 768.21(6)(a)?
or
ARE PARENTS OF A DECEASED ADULT LINEAL DESCENDANTS WITHIN THE MEANING OF § 768.-21 (6) (a)?
We reply in the negative.
The word “descendants” connotes those persons who are in the blood stream of the ancestor. In re Hewett’s Estate, 153 Fla. 137, 13 So. 2d 904 (1943). Black’s Law Dictionary defines the word as “One who is descended from another, a person who proceeds from the body of another such as a child, grandchild, etc., to the remotest degree. The term is the opposite of ‘ascendant,1 ’ ” [emphasis supplied]
Thus, it is abundantly clear that the parents of a deceased adult are ascendants and therefore we conclude they cannot be considered lineal descendants within the meaning of § 768.21(6) (a).
The certified question having been answered in the negative, we hereby remand the cause to the trial court for further proceedings consistent herewith.
It is so ordered.
. Black’s defines ascendants as “persons with whom one is related in the ascending line; one’s parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Vildibill v. Johnson, 492 So. 2d 1047 (Fla. 1986)…ismissed, 365 So. 2d 712 (Fla.1978); Henderson v. Insurance Company of North America, 347 So. 2d 690 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977) (adult non-dependent children of decedent may not recover loss of net accumulations through the estate); Bassett v. Merlin Inc., 304 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974), aff'd, 335 So. 2d 273 (Fla.1976) (parents of adult decedent may not recover loss of net accumulations through estate). Along with reading the amendment to discern the general intent of the legislature to broaden those situations…
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Bassett v. Merlin, Inc., 335 So. 2d 273 (Fla. 1976)…(1), Florida Statutes. The trial court certified questions to the Third District Court of Appeal asking whether his parents could recover net accumulations under Section 768.21(6) (a), Florida Statutes. The Third District in Bassett v. Merlin, Inc., 304 So. 2d 543 (Fla. App.3rd, 1974), correctly answered the question in the negative. Upon remand to the circuit court, the appellant asserted by motion the unconstitutionality of Section 768.21 on the grounds it denied parents of an adult child the right to dama…
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Vildibill v. Johnson, 802 F.2d 1347 (11th Cir. 1986)…ismissed, 365 So. 2d 712 (Fla.1978); Henderson v. Insurance Company of North America, 347 So. 2d 690 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977) (adult non-dependent children of decedent may not recover loss of net accumulations through the estate); Bassett v. Merlin Inc., 304 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974), aff'd, 335 So. 2d 273 (Fla.1976) (parents of adult decedent may not recover loss of net accumulations through estate). “Along with reading the amendment to discern the general intent of the legislature to broaden those situation…
Authorities Cited
- In re THE Est. OF William B. Hewitt, 153 Fla. 137 (Fla. 1943)