[WSBARP] Statutory Beneficiaries to Wrongful Death Actionvs Intestate Succession Beneficiaries

Sun Nov 25 17:26:26 PST 2018

I've retired, so now I just do old retired person recollections. Karen
Willie, on Queen Anne, is the water witch. 

Rebecca Wiess 

  _____  

From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com
[mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of Chris Benis
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2018 3:44 PM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv
Subject: Re: [WSBARP] Statutory Beneficiaries to Wrongful Death Actionvs
Intestate Succession Beneficiaries

Rebecca, 

I recall that you used to do a lot of work in the area of surface water. Do
you still do that kind of stuff?

Christopher T Benis 

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 21, 2018, at 2:47 PM, RebeccaWiess <rwiess at foxinternet.net> wrote:

FWIW, I had a similar clash of statutes on a wrongful death award to a
railway worker. The judge didn't follow either statute exactly, but since
one side got some money and the other side got a moral victory to even out
the pain of getting plus money, nobody wanted to appeal.  I thought it was
good move by the Court. 

Rebecca K. Wiess

421 24th Avenue East

Seattle, WA  98112

Phone 206 329-6638

rwiess at foxinternet.net 

  _____  

From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com
[mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of Krista MacLaren
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2018 2:47 PM
To: WSBA RPPT Real Property Discussion Forum
Subject: Re: [WSBARP] Statutory Beneficiaries to Wrongful Death Action vs
Intestate Succession Beneficiaries

Hi Eric,

I have dealt with a bit of this, but I am very interested in other people's
comments, because as you say, the law on it is very vague.  My understanding
is that it depends how the damages/settlement are characterized.  The estate
would receive a portion of the settlement primarily for (and someone can
correct me if I have the specifics wrong) pain and suffering suffered by the
decedent preceding death, and lost wages of decedent, because these would
have been his had he lived.  The statutory beneficiaries receive basically
everything else - any loss of consortium, and pain & suffering of the
statutory beneficiaries.  I'm not sure whether they can have economic loss
based on parent's death - maybe if they are minors supported by parent?  If
decedent died immediately (no pain & suffering) and was retired (no economic
loss), then I think basically everything would go to statutory
beneficiaries.  If there was suffering prior to death, then the estate would
receive that.  However, often the settlement is negotiated in bulk with no
real distinction made about what it is for.  I have done a TEDRA agreement
among surviving spouse and kids before clarifying what portion of the
settlement was deemed the kids' share versus the surviving spouse.  In the
case where statutory Bs are adults and maybe had little contact with
decedent in the last few years because they were off living their own lives,
then surviving spouse should probably receive the bulk of the settlement,
and I think it can be negotiated if everyone is agreeable.  

Please share if you receive more info, I would love to learn more on this.

Krista

Krista J. MacLaren
Attorney at Law
Northgate Executive Center II
9725 3rd Ave NE, Suite 600
Seattle WA 98115
(206) 523-6116
kjm.inc at icloud.com

Please note, as with most email providers, Mac does not encrypt email
messages. Accordingly, the confidentiality of messages sent to this address
cannot be assured. This e-mail is intended for viewing only by the
individual or entity to whom its content is addressed, and it may contain
confidential or privileged information. If you received this email in error,
please honor the privacy of the intended recipient: reply to the sender
regarding the error and delete the message.

On Nov 14, 2018, at 2:02 PM, Eric Lanza <eric at jaglaw.net> wrote:

Listserv--

Decedent passed away without a will. He had a surviving spouse, and 4
step-children (none of them adopted by decedent).

Under intestate succession statute, surviving spouse gets everything
(decedent had no biological children), and stepchildren receive nothing.

Only asset of the estate is a large monetary judgment in wrongful death
action. Wrongful death action was prosecuted by the personal representative
in the name of the estate.

RCW 4.20.020 says the beneficiaries of the wrongful death action are the
surviving spouse.and children,including stepchildren.

Under RCW 4.20.020, it seems that stepchildren are entitled to a portion (?)
of the wrongful death award. However, under the intestate succession
statute, they aren't entitled to any property of the estate.

How are these statutes reconciled? I can't seem to find any case law on it.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Eric J. Lanza, J.D.

<image002.jpg>

1800 Cooper Point RD SW NO. 8  |  Olympia, WA 98502 

Telephone  <tel:360.352.1970> 360.352.1970  |  Fax  <tel:360.357.0844>
360.357.0844 |  www.jaglaw.net <http://www.jaglaw.net/>   

eric at jaglaw.net

Nothing contained herein should be construed as legal advice.

The purpose of this email is to transmit a message or document.

Should you not be the intended recipient of this email message,

please reply advising of the mistake and then delete this message

from your computer. Should you have any questions,

please call the Sender at  <tel:360-352-1970> 360-352-1970.

_______________________________________________
WSBARP mailing list
 <mailto:WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com> WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com
 <http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp>
http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp

_______________________________________________
WSBARP mailing list
WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com
http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20181125/1a82512f/attachment.html>