Hardin County, Kentucky d/b/a Hardin Memorial Hospital v. Wilkerson

Summary

The Supreme Court of Kentucky held that the stay provision of the Kentucky Insurance Guaranty Association Act, KRS 304.36-085, neither stays an action that has abated upon the plaintiff’s death nor tolls the one-year revival period under KRS 395.278. Because the negligence action was not revived within one year after Bessie Wilkerson’s death, the Court reinstated the trial court’s dismissal. A dissent argued that the action remained pending during the revival period and that the insurance insolvency automatically suspended the revival period.

Holdings

1. An action that abates upon the death of a party is not a live, pending proceeding subject to the KRS 304.36-085 stay unless and until it is revived.
2. KRS 304.36-085 does not suspend or toll the one-year statute of limitations in KRS 395.278.
3. Because the action was not revived within one year after Wilkerson's death, dismissal under KRS 395.278 was proper.

Questions Presented

1. Whether an action abated by the death of the original plaintiff remains a pending proceeding subject to the six-month stay under KRS 304.36-085 before it is revived.
2. Whether KRS 304.36-085 suspends or tolls the one-year limitation period for reviving an action under KRS 395.278.
3. Whether the failure to revive the action within one year required dismissal.

Disposition

reversed