Summary
The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the allocation and distribution of settlement proceeds arising from wrongful-death and survival claims after Jennifer Boushee's death. The court upheld the allocation of most proceeds to the survival action, ruled that Davey McMillan could not inherit survival damages because he had failed to support Boushee, and sustained the limited award of wrongful-death damages to him. The court also affirmed the denial of McMillan's motions concerning removal of the personal representative, due process, evidentiary issues, and judicial questioning.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the District Court's allocation of the settlement proceeds between survival damages and wrongful-death damages was supported by the evidence.
- Whether McMillan was entitled to inherit survival damages under Montana's intestacy and parental-support requirements.
- Whether the District Court properly allocated wrongful-death damages and denied McMillan loss-of-consortium damages.
- Whether Santiago breached her fiduciary duty or should have been removed as personal representative.
- Whether McMillan was denied due process.
- Whether testimony concerning the settlement and earning-capacity demand was improper expert testimony or hearsay.
- Whether the District Court's questioning of witnesses constituted improper advocacy.
Holdings
- The District Court's allocation of $194,136.43 to survival damages and $10,729.96 to wrongful-death damages was supported by sufficient evidence and was not clearly erroneous.
- Survival damages were available because Boushee did not die instantaneously, but McMillan could not inherit from the estate because he failed Montana's statutory requirement that a parent openly treat the child as the parent's and not refuse to support the child.
- The District Court properly allocated the bulk of the wrongful-death damages to Santiago, awarded McMillan $7.51 in general damages, and denied McMillan loss-of-consortium damages.
- The District Court properly denied McMillan's motion to remove Santiago as personal representative because she fulfilled her fiduciary duties and did not mismanage the estate.
- McMillan failed to establish a due-process violation because Santiago pursued claims on his behalf.
- The District Court did not err in admitting Winter's testimony because he did not testify as an expert and his testimony about the original settlement demand was not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted.
- The District Court's neutral questioning of witnesses was within its discretion and did not constitute advocacy for Santiago.
Key quotations
“this case is decided by memorandum opinion and shall not be cited and does not serve as precedent.” (¶ 1)
“Unlike survival actions, wrongful death actions are personal to the survivors; they are not a part of the intestate estate.” (¶ 15)
“The relationship between McMillan and Ms. Boushee was virtually nonexistent, not extraordinarily close and interdependent.” (¶ 18)
Factual background
Jennifer Boushee, the nineteen-year-old daughter of Tahnia Santiago and Davey McMillan, died after consuming alcohol and driving under the influence. She died intestate, and Santiago was appointed personal representative. Santiago pursued wrongful-death and survival claims, which resulted in a $325,000 settlement with Holiday Stationstores. McMillan had minimal contact with Boushee, had not voluntarily supported her during her lifetime, and did not attend her funeral.
Procedural history
Santiago was appointed personal representative of Jennifer Boushee's estate and pursued wrongful-death and survival claims. Holiday Stationstores settled for $325,000, leaving $204,866.39 after fees, costs, and expenses. The District Court allocated $194,136.43 to survival damages and $10,729.96 to wrongful-death damages, awarded McMillan $7.51 in wrongful-death damages, denied him any survival proceeds under Montana's intestacy and parental-support statutes, and denied his removal motion. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed.