Technisand, Inc. v. Melton

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court held that a wrongful-death claim arising from an alleged products-liability injury must be filed within two years of the decedent's death under Indiana's Wrongful Death Act. The court concluded that the products-liability statute of limitations could not extend the time for filing after the wrongful-death limitations period expired, and that the decedent's products-liability claim did not survive her death under Indiana's Survival Act. The court vacated the Court of Appeals' decision and reversed the trial court's denial of summary judgment for Technisand.

Holdings

1. A wrongful-death claim with an underlying products-liability claim must be filed within two years of the decedent's death under the Wrongful Death Act, even if the Products Liability Act's limitations period for the underlying tort has not expired.
2. Because Patty allegedly died from the personal injuries caused by Technisand's product, her products-liability claim did not survive her death; only a Wrongful Death Act claim remained.
3. Jessie Melton's claim against Technisand was untimely because Technisand was not added within two years after Patty Melton's death.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Indiana Wrongful Death Act's two-year limitations period or the Indiana Products Liability Act's accrual-based limitations period governed the wrongful-death claim against Technisand.
2. Whether the Survival Act allowed Patty's products-liability claim to survive her death when the alleged injuries caused her death.
3. Whether the claim against Technisand was timely when Technisand was added more than two years after Patty's death but within the limitations period for the underlying products-liability claim.

Disposition

reversed