Herndon v. St. Mary's Hospital, Inc.

Summary

The Virginia Supreme Court held that Code § 8.01-8 does not authorize parents to bring a minor child’s action in the parents’ own names. The statute permits either or both parents to act as the child’s next friend, but the minor remains the real party in interest and the action must be brought in the child’s name.

Holdings

1. Code § 8.01-8 does not authorize parents to bring a minor child's action in the parents' own names. The statute permits either or both parents to act as the child's next friend in a single action brought in the child's name.
2. The 1998 amendment did not change the common-law requirement that the minor be the named plaintiff. It clarified that either or both parents may initiate a single action as the child's next friend.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Code § 8.01-8, as amended in 1998, permits either or both parents to bring an action on behalf of their minor child in the parents' own names as next friends.
2. Whether the 1998 amendment to Code § 8.01-8 changed the common-law rule requiring an action belonging to a minor to be brought in the minor's own name.

Disposition

affirmed