Potential "Child Wrongful Death" Civil Suit against RA?
Briefly. Per info below re IN. "Child Wrongful Death Act,"* imo a civil action filed now would very, very LIKELY be barred by the TWO YEAR Statute of Limitations. Hesitating to make a more definitive answer.**
Welcoming other thoughts. Anyone?
As others posted, RA is likely judgment proof, so filing a CWDA petition would be an exercise in futility. imo.
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* From IN. Gen. Assembly website, w IC 34-23-2
"(b)...child" means an unmarried individual without dependents who is:
"(1) less than twenty (20) years of age;..."
"(c) An action may be maintained under this section against the person whose wrongful act or omission caused the injury or death of a child. The action may be maintained by:
"(1) the father and mother jointly, or either of them by naming the other parent as a codefendant to answer as to his or her interest;
"(2) in case of divorce or dissolution of marriage, the person to whom custody of the child was awarded; and
"(3) a guardian, for the injury or death of a protected person."
Website for Indiana's General Assembly
iga.in.gov
BTW (f) Lists the types of damages which may be awarded.
** From an IN. law firm website article.
Relevant hardcopy pages for CWDA = 9 - 21 (e-pages 11 - 23)
Page re 2 yr. SoL = hardcopy page 15 et seq. (e-page 17).
Paraphrasing from article:
The CWDA does not have an express Statute of Limitation as the Adult WRA does. IN. appellate courts have concluded that the SoL for CWDA cases is "generally two years after the date of death," the same as Adult WDA cases. Article said "generally two years" and cited a case arising from a medical malpractice case (clearly not applicable here to A & L's deaths), which has a longer SoL.