Armes v. Thompson, 222 S.W.3d 79 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2006, no pet.).
Several years after Decedent injured herself outside of Bingo Barn,
she died of an unrelated illness. A lawsuit was thereafter filed against
Bingo Barn seeking damages for present and future medical expenses, pain
and suffering, etc. The petition did not indicate that Decedent was
deceased. Later, the temporary administratrix filed a suggestion of
death in the case. Both the trial and appellate courts agreed that the
lawsuit should be dismissed for want of jurisdiction because the
petition was not filed by Decedent’s heirs or by the personal
representative of her estate.
The appellate court rejected the argument that this case was analogous
to Austin Nursing Ctr., Inc. v. Lovato, 171 S.W.3d 845 (Tex. 2005) or
Lorentz v. Dunn, 171 S.W.3d 854 (Tex. 2005), in which the Texas Supreme
Court held that although the persons who filed suit lacked capacity at
the time they filed, they were deemed to have authority because they
acquired it within a reasonable time and thus it related back to the
filing of the original petitions. In those cases, it was clear that the
injured person had died and the case was being pursued by an alleged
representative of the estate. In this case, it appeared that Decedent
filed the lawsuit and by seeking damages for future medical expenses,
the petition left the impression that Decedent was still alive. “Because
[Decedent] passed away before this suit was filed, she did not have
standing to assert a claim; and the original petition filed in her name
individually did not invoke the trial court’s jurisdiction.” Armes at
85.
Moral: A decedent lacks capacity and standing to file a lawsuit.