LeSage v. Dirt Cheap Cigarettes and Beer, Inc.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Missouri held that an unwed father may bring a wrongful-death action for the death of an unborn child even when paternity was not established before the child's death. The court ruled that Missouri's Uniform Parentage Act was not the exclusive means of proving paternity for purposes of a wrongful-death action, although its evidentiary standards and presumptions could be used. The circuit court's dismissal was reversed and the case was remanded.

Holdings

1. An unwed father may bring a wrongful-death action for the death of an unborn child even when paternity was not determined before the child's death, provided that he proves that he is the child's father.
2. Missouri's version of the Uniform Parentage Act is not the exclusive means of proving paternity for purposes of a wrongful-death action.
3. Although the Parentage Act's procedural requirements do not bar the wrongful-death claim, its evidentiary standards and presumptions may be used to prove paternity.

Questions Presented

1. Whether an unwed putative father may bring a wrongful-death action for the death of an unborn child when paternity was not established before the child's death.
2. Whether Missouri's Uniform Parentage Act is the exclusive means of proving paternity for purposes of a wrongful-death action.
3. Whether the procedural requirements of the Uniform Parentage Act, including joining the child as a party, bar a wrongful-death claim when the unborn child died before paternity was established.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded