Estate of Kuhns v. Marco

• Decision Date: 20 December 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-0930.,99-0930.
• Parties: ESTATE OF Dorothy KUHNS, and Jeff Kuhns and Pearl Guy, Legal Representatives of the Deceased and Executors of the Estate, Appellants, v. Dale MARCO, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

620 N.W.2d 488

ESTATE OF Dorothy KUHNS, and Jeff Kuhns and Pearl Guy, Legal Representatives of the Deceased and Executors of the Estate, Appellants, v. Dale MARCO, Appellee.

No. 99-0930.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

December 20, 2000.

Brad Schroeder of the Crawford Law Firm, Des Moines, for appellants.

Douglas A. Haag of Patterson, Lorentzen, Duffield, Timmons, Irish, Becker & Ordway, L.L.P., Des Moines, for appellee.

Considered en banc.

CADY, Justice.

In this appeal, we must decide if Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 69(e) requires a defendant to receive notice of the action prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations before an amendment to the petition to add a plaintiff may be deemed to relate back to the original petition when the action was filed prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The district court concluded notice was required to be received prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations and entered summary judgment for the defendant. The court of appeals affirmed. We vacate the decision of the court of appeals, reverse the decision of the district court, and remand the case for further proceedings.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

On December 23, 1996, Dorothy Kuhns was operating a motor vehicle in West Des Moines. Her vehicle was involved in an accident with a vehicle operated by Dale Marco. Dorothy sustained personal injuries as a result of the accident.

Dorothy died on September 21, 1997. The cause of her death was unrelated to the accident. She was sixty-three years old.

On December 22, 1998, an action was filed against Marco to recover damages for the injuries suffered by Dorothy as a result of the automobile accident on December 23, 1996. The action was brought in the name of the estate of Dorothy Kuhns. Marco was served with notice of the action on January 9, 1999.

Marco responded to the lawsuit by filing a motion to dismiss. He alleged the action was required to be brought in the name of Dorothy's legal representative under Iowa Code section 611.20 (1999), not in the name of her estate.

The estate did not resist the motion. Instead, a motion to amend the petition was filed to add Jeffrey Kuhns and Pearl Guy as plaintiffs in their capacity as the legal representatives for Dorothy. Jeffrey Kuhns and Guy are Dorothy's children and coexecutors under her will. The district court denied the motion to dismiss and granted the motion to amend.

Marco then filed an answer to the amended petition. The answer included the affirmative defense that the action was barred by the two-year statute of limitations.

Marco also filed a motion for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations defense. An affidavit attached to the motion confirmed Marco had no notice of institution of the action until service of process occurred on January 9, 1999. This was approximately two weeks after the statute of limitations had expired.

The district court granted summary judgment. Although it disagreed with the outcome, the district court felt compelled to dismiss the action under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 69(e). The trial court held the amendment to add the real party in interest could not relate back to the date of the original petition because the language of rule 69(e) required Marco to receive notice of the lawsuit prior to the expiration of the two-year statute of limitations.

The legal representatives appealed, and we transferred the case to the court of appeals. The court of appeals affirmed the district court. The legal representatives then sought further review. They claim the district court and court of appeals improperly applied the notice requirement of rule 69(e). They assert notice was timely because the original notice and petition was served on Marco within the time permitted for service of process.

II. Scope of Review.

We review a district court ruling on a motion for summary judgment for the correction of errors at law. Iowa R.App. P. 4; Iowa Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Bd. v. Mobil Oil Corp., 606 N.W.2d 359, 362 (Iowa 2000). In doing so, we are guided by the same principles utilized by the district court. Adam v. Mt. Pleasant Bank & Trust Co., 355 N.W.2d 868, 872 (Iowa 1984). We examine the record to determine the existence of a genuine issue of material fact and determine if the law was correctly applied. Anderson v. Miller, 559 N.W.2d 29, 31 (Iowa 1997). We apply the same test the district court should have used. General Ceramics Inc. v. Firemen's Fund Ins. Cos., 66 F.3d 647, 651 (3d Cir. 1995).

III. Relation Back Doctrine.

The disposition of a civil action in Iowa is governed by the rules of civil procedure. These rules include provisions governing pleadings. The primary purpose of the rules of pleading is to provide notice and to facilitate a fair and just decision on the merits of the case. See Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 48, 78 S.Ct. 99, 103, 2 L.Ed.2d 80, 86 (1957)

. Conversely, pleading rules do not exist to allow a mistake in a pleading to determine the outcome of a case. Id.; Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 181-82, 83 S.Ct. 227, 230, 9 L.Ed.2d 222, 225 (1962) (it is contrary to the spirit of the rules for a decision on the merits to be avoided on the basis of technicalities). Thus, our rules of procedure provide that amendments to pleadings should be freely allowed when it is just to do so. Iowa R. Civ. P. 69(d); see Ackerman v. Lauver, 242 N.W.2d 342, 345 (Iowa 1976) ("[a]mendments are the rule and denials [are] the exception").

Notwithstanding, pleadings that are amended after the period provided for the commencement of an action has expired under a statute of limitations can present special problems if the amendment is deemed to relate back to the date of the original pleading. Statutes of limitations establish a reasonable period of time for plaintiffs to file their claims. This limitation period essentially exists to ensure a defendant will receive timely notice of a potential claim so that the defendant will be protected from the multitude of problems that can occur when defending stale claims.¹ See State v. Gansz, 376 N.W.2d 887, 891 (Iowa 1985)

. These problems include diminished memories of witnesses, disappearance of witnesses, and lost evidence. Schulte v. Wageman, 465 N.W.2d 285, 286 (Iowa 1991). Thus, an amendment that adds new parties or claims after the period of limitations has expired can offend the policies underlying the statute of limitations because the ability to conduct a defense on the merits can be undermined by the late notice of the need to prepare a defense. Accordingly, although amendments should be freely granted to promote a trial on the merits, an amendment must not relate back to the date of the original pleading if it would offend the policies underlying the statute of limitations. United States v. Koch Indus., Inc., 188 F.R.D. 617, 628 (N.D.Okla.1999). Conversely, if the amendment does not offend the policies of the statute of limitations, it should relate back to the original pleading "to prevent parties against whom claims are made from taking unjust advantage of otherwise inconsequential pleading errors...." Fed.R.Civ.P. 15 advisory committee's note (1991).

Our rules of civil procedure consider the competing interests that can clash when pleadings are amended after the statute of limitations has expired. See Iowa R. Civ. P. 69(e). To balance these interests, rule 69(e) applies two separate tests to determine if an amendment to a pleading will relate back. The first test applies to amendments that add claims. If a pleading is amended to add a claim, the amendment will be deemed to relate back to the date of the original pleading when the claim in the amendment "arose out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence set forth or attempted to be set forth in the original pleading...." Id. The second test applies to amendments that add parties and is comprised of four prongs. See Porter v. Good Eavespouting, 505 N.W.2d 178, 181 (Iowa 1993)

; 3 James Wm. Moore et al., Moore's Federal Practice § 15.19[3][a], at 15-85 (Matthew Bender 3d ed.2000) [hereinafter Moore]. First, the same relation back test for amendments that add claims is considered. Porter, 505 N.W.2d at 181. Second, a party against whom a claim is asserted must receive such notice of the institution of the action that the party will not be prejudiced in maintaining a defense on the merits. Id. Third, the party against whom the claim is asserted must know or should have known that, but for a mistake concerning the identity of the proper party, the action would have been brought against the party. Id. Finally, the second and third factors must occur within the period provided by law for commencing the action against the party. Id.²

The relation back doctrine is also found in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and existed as a common law principle. See Clif J. Shapiro, Note, Amendments That Add Plaintiffs Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(c), 50 Geo. Wash. L.Rev. 671, 673 (1982). Similarly, the doctrine was recognized in Iowa prior to the adoption of our rules of civil procedure. See Schofield v. White, 250 Iowa 571, 583, 95 N.W.2d 40, 46-47 (1959)

. The federal rule applies the same test as the Iowa rule, but now employs a different time period in which notice of the institution of the action and knowledge of the mistake must occur. Under federal rule 15(c), these conditions must occur "within the [time] provided ... for service of the summons and complaint." Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(c). By contrast, under rule 69(e), these conditions must occur "within the period provided by law for commencing the action against the party." Iowa R. Civ. P. 69(e).

That portion of rule 69(e) pertaining to notice of the institution of the action prior to expiration of the period of time for commencing the action applies by its language only to "the party against whom a claim is asserted." See id. Thus, when the relation back rule is...