Proof of parents' wrongful-death claims made easier

By Keith J. Kuhn

A Washington statute requires that parents who sue for wrongful death of their adult child prove that they were dependent on the child for support. Parents may meet that proof requirement by showing that the child performed valuable services and need not prove regular monetary contributions by the child, the Washington Supreme Court has held.

In Armantrout v. Carlson, 18-year-old Kristen Armantrout died of a pulmonary embolism after ankle surgery. At the time of her death, Kristen lived with her parents. She provided many services to her mother, Josie, who was diabetic and blind. Kristen was Josie’s driver and reader, took Josie’s glucose readings, and gave her insulin injections. Kristen also contributed her disability check of $588 per month to the household’s finances.

After her death, Kristen’s estate and her parents sued her orthopedic surgeons for medical malpractice, which they alleged had caused Kristen’s ensuing death.

Because Washington’s wrongful-death statute requires proof that plaintiff-parents of an adult decedent prove that they were “dependent for support” on the decedent, the defendants moved to dismiss the parents’ wrongful-death claim, arguing that the parents could not prove substantial financial dependence on Kristen as of the time of her death. The trial court disagreed, deciding that there was a factual dispute on that point that the jury must decide. The jury later returned a verdict of $200,000 to Kristen’s estate and another $1.15 million to her parents.

The defendants appealed. The Court of Appeals reversed the $1.15 million portion of the verdict, holding that merely “conferring services and other benefits does not constitute financial support.” The Court of Appeals held that “dependence” on the adult child did not include services. The Armantrouts successfully petitioned the Supreme Court for review of the issue.