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By stan_sipple

Plaintiff filed a wrongful death action for the decedent's daughter as an attorney-in-fact for the decedent's daughter against nursing home where decedent resided before her death. Trial court dismissed wrongful death action holding that the plaintiffs' subsequent pleading amendments did not relate back to the intial filing and were tardy under the statute of limitations. Missouri Surpeme Court holds amendments related-back to the attorney-in-fact's filing. Sharon L. Peyton, Appellant v. Bellefontaine Gardens Nursing & Rehab, Inc., et al., Respondents.: SC88606

"The original plaintiff had power of attorney for the proper plaintiff, and the original petition gave notice of the proper plaintiff's interest and standing in the case ? the amended petition relates back to the timely filed original petition; therefore, it is not outside the statute of limitations."
Williams' attorney in fact, Peyton had standing in the original suit, so her amended petition relates back to the timely original filing. Under Rule 55.33(c), if a claim asserted in an amended pleading arose from the same occurrence set forth in the original pleading, the amendment relates back to the date of the original pleading. Forehand v. Hall, 355 S.W.2d 940 (Mo. 1962), provided that, if a timely wrongful death suit is filed by a party who has a "legal or beneficial interest" but who lacks authority to file the suit, an amended petition substituting a plaintiff suing in the proper capacity will relate back to the filing of the original petition.Section 537.095.1 requires that, to be perfected, a wrongful death action must list all other class members who are eligible to share in the proceeds of any judgment, and it permits one member of the purported class to represent the interests of the other class members. Additionally, this Court long has held that the body of the pleading, not the caption, determines the parties necessary to prosecute the action. Peyton's status as Williams' attorney in fact, combined with her petition's notice of Williams' interest and standing in the case, was sufficient to give Peyton the sort of legal and beneficial interest contemplated by Forehand and Rule 55.33(c), allowing her amended petition to relate back to the timely original action.

Full post as published by Showmeblawgs on March 21, 2008 (boomark / email).