If no lawyer is listed, call 918-582-6422 and MoreLaw will help you find a lawyer for free.

Defendant's Attorney: Mike Moore

Description: Paducah, Kentucky personal injury lawyer represented Plaintiff, who sued Defendants on auto negligence and insurance law theories.


Donna Powers and Fendol Carruthers, Jr. were involved in a two-vehicle accident. Powers later filed suit against Carruthers and Kentucky Farm Bureau (Farm Bureau), her underinsurance carrier. However, apparently unbeknownst to Powers, Carruthers had died before Powers filed her complaint. The trial court dismissed the claims against Carruthers as nullities, denied Powers's motion to revive her claims against Carruthers's estate (the Estate) and to
raise new claims, and granted summary judgment to Farm Bureau. After examining the record and applicable law, we affirm.

In November 2015, Carruthers and Powers were the drivers involved in a two-vehicle accident in which Powers sustained injuries. It is uncontested that at the time of the collision Carruthers was in violation of KRS[1] 189A.010, which makes it a criminal offense to operate a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating substances. Carruthers was insured by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm), with a policy limit of $50,000. As Powers alleged damages exceeding that limit, she sought to recover via the underinsured coverage of her Farm Bureau policy.

Carruthers died in March 2016. No formal estate for Carruthers was established prior to the eventual filing of this lawsuit. Powers received her last basic reparations benefit (BRB) payment in August 2016 and she filed this action against Carruthers and Farm Bureau in the McCracken Circuit Court in April 2018, apparently unaware that Carruthers was dead. Though the complaint was filed more than two years after the collision, the Motor Vehicle Reparations Act (MVRA) generally provides that an action under it may be filed within two years of the date of the last BRB payment. See KRS 304.39-230(6). Farm Bureau filed an answer and a cross-claim against Carruthers.

In short, neither the complaint nor Farm Bureau's answer/cross-claim noted that Carruthers had died. Of course, being deceased, Carruthers did not file an answer to Powers's or Farm Bureau's claims.

The record then is silent until May 2019, when the trial court issued a notice requiring the parties to show cause why the case should not be dismissed for lack of prosecution. Later in May 2019, Powers filed a response asserting that she and State Farm had been engaged in ultimately unsuccessful settlement negotiations. Powers's response also noted that she had discovered Carruthers was deceased at some unspecified point after filing her complaint.

Powers also filed a motion to appoint a public administrator for the Estate. In June 2019, the trial court issued an order which allowed the case to remain on the docket but denied Powers's motion to appoint a public administrator because such an action was within the district court's exclusive jurisdiction.

Outcome: Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: