Mooney v. Hill
| Decision Date | 02 July 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 18,18 |
| Citation | 367 Mich. 138,116 N.W.2d 231 |
| Parties | Steven A. MOONEY, Administrator of the Estate of Thomas Mooney, Deceased, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Forrest M. HILL, Defendant and Appellee. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
Doozan, Scorsone & Trogan, Saginaw, for plaintiff and appellant.
Stanton, Taylor & McGraw, Saginaw, for defendant and appellee.
Before the Entire Bench.
SOURIS, Justice (for reversal and remand).
The question presented by this appeal is whether the surviving parents of an adult unmarried male child, who voluntarily contributed to their support, may recover damages for their loss of such support in an action under the wrongful death act.* Rytkonen v. City of Wakefield, 364 Mich. 86, 111 N.W.2d 63, decided by this Court subsequent to the entry of the order below from which this appeal is taken, considered and decided the same question and governs our disposition of this case.
Thomas Mooney was killed in an automobile accident. He was 24 years of age at death and was survived by both parents and four brothers and sisters. Appellant, administrator of his estate, sought damages for loss of decedent's support to his parents and the jury was instructed that if it found in plaintiff's favor, it could award damages for such loss of support as well as for other damages proved. A verdict for $8,500 was returned by the jury.
On defendant's subsequent motion for new trial, the trial judge ordered apellant to remit all of the jury verdict except $1,155.44, the exact amount of the burial expense, as a condition of denial of the motion. Upon appellant's refusal to accept the order of remittitur, defendant's motion for new trial was granted and this appeal was thereupon taken upon leave granted.
Decedent's mother had incurred substantial medical expenses over a perido of several years prior to his death to pay which his parents' home had been mortgaged. Decedent at the time of his death was paying one-half the monthly mortgage payment as well as other expenses of the household. He paid $37.81 each month toward the cost of siding put on the home at a total cost of $2,000; he purchased furniture, household equipment, and clothes for the younger children, and otherwise regularly contributed money and services to his parents. At his death, his father was 55 years old, earning $1.53 an hour, and his mother was 45 then employed as a nurses' aid at about $35 per week. While in military service several years before his death, decedent...
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