Graul v. Adrian
| Citation | 205 N.E.2d 444,32 Ill.2d 345 |
| Decision Date | 18 March 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 38786,38786 |
| Parties | Clarence P. GRAUL, Admr., Appellee, v. Allen ADRIAN, Appellant. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Illinois |
Brady, Donovan & Hatch, East St. Louis, for appellant.
C. E. Heiligenstein, Belleville, for appellee.
Clarence P. Graul sued as administrator of the estate of his minor son, Gerald W. Graul, and individually, in a complaint containing two counts. Count I is an action for wrongful death brought as administrator under the Wrongful Death Act. Count II is an action brought by the father, individually, and as father to recover medical and funeral expenses of the son, incurred by the father as the result of the alleged wrongful act causing the death of his son.
The trial court dismissed count II and entered judgment for defendant on that count. The Appellate Court, Fifth District, reversed and remanded with directions to vacate the order of dismissal and the judgment in favor of defendant. This court granted leave to appeal.
The sole question presented by this appeal is whether a parent may recover, in a separate action, medical and funeral expenses incurred by him for a child whose death occurs as the result of the wrongful act of a third party. An action may be maintained by the personal representative of a deceased for his death under the Wrongful Death Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1963, chap. 70, par. 2). No damages are recoverable under that act for pain and suffering of the deceased, nor for medical, hospital or funeral expenses, but the damages are limited to loss of support. Ohnesorge v. Chicago City Railway Co., 259 Ill. 424, 102 N.E. 819.
We reviewed the law applicable to recovery by a spouse for medical and funeral expenses incurred by a widow for her husband whose death resulted from the wrongful act of another in Saunders v. Schultz, 20 Ill.2d 301, 170 N.E.2d 163, and there concluded that there presently is no legally cogent reason to deny recovery in such a case. The rule denying recovery was based upon an archaic common law rule that there could be no recovery for the death of a human being. We there held it legally sound and in accordance with basic negligence principles that the burden of damages should fall not on the innocent victim, but upon the tort-feasor, and allowed recovery by a spouse in a separate cause of action.
The courts of this State have repeatedly held under the provisions of the statute referred to as the family-expense section of the Husband and Wife Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1961, chap. 68, par. 15,) that parents are liable for the medical expenses of their minor children. (Younkin v. Essick, 29 Ill.App. 575; West Chicago Street Railroad Co. v. Carr, 67 Ill.App. 530; Shepherd v. Marsaglia, 31 Ill.App.2d 379, 176 N.E.2d 473.) While the case of Wright v. Royse, 43 Ill.App.2d 267, 193 N.E.2d 340, held that there is no...
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Lewis v. Lead Indus. Ass'n
...rejected plaintiffs' argument. ¶ 42 Plaintiffs also rely, as did the appellate court, upon this court's decision in Graul v. Adrian , 32 Ill. 2d 345, 205 N.E.2d 444 (1965), to support their claim that plaintiffs became liable for the cost of the lead screening under the Family Expense Act. ......
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Bauer ex rel. Bauer v. Memorial Hosp.
...to as "the family expense statute," parents are responsible for the medical expenses of their minor children. Graul v. Adrian, 32 Ill.2d 345, 347, 205 N.E.2d 444, 446 (1965). The common law in turn gives parents a cause of action against a tortfeasor who, by injuring their child, caused the......
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Manago v. Cnty. of Cook
...that under the family expenses statute, parents are liable for the medical expenses of their minor children. Graul v. Adrian, 32 Ill.2d 345, 347, 205 N.E.2d 444 (1965). Consequently, our supreme court has held that a parent may recover, in a separate action, medical and funeral expenses inc......
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Air Crash Disaster Near Chicago, Ill. on May 25, 1979, In re
...might have been expected to contribute to the surviving spouse and children had the deceased lived. See also Graul v. Adrian, 32 Ill.2d 345, 346, 205 N.E.2d 444, 445 (1965); Welch v. Davis, 410 Ill. 130, 133, 101 N.E.2d 547, 549 (1951); Robertson v. White, 11 Ill.App.2d 177, 181, 136 N.E.2d......