Wilcox v. Jones
| Decision Date | 20 May 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-1604,76-1604 |
| Citation | 346 So.2d 1037 |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
| Parties | John Ross WILCOX, Douglas Montgomery Wilcox and the Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company, Appellants, v. Bobby JONES, as Administrator of the Estate of Rhonda Perry Jefferson, Deceased, Appellee. |
Richard V. Neill and Michael Jeffries, of Neill, Griffin, Jeffries & Lloyd, Fort Pierce, for appellants.
William M. Cobb, of Sullivan Cobb & Petersen, Vero Beach, for appellee.
The issue presented in this appeal, which is one of first impression in Florida, is whether the father of an illegitimate child may recover damages for the wrongful death of his illegitimate child.
Based upon our reading of Sections 768.16-768.27, Florida Statutes (1975) (the Florida Wrongful Death Act), and, in particular, the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Trimble v. Gordon et al.,--- U.S. ----, 97 S.Ct. 1459, 52 L.Ed.2d 31, opinion filed April 26, 1977, the question is answered in the affirmative.
The wrongful death statute, which permits an action to be brought on behalf of decedent's "survivors," defines "survivors" as follows
It is settled that the predecessor wrongful death statute has been construed to recognize the right of a mother of an illegitimate child to recover damages for the death of such child. City of West Palm Beach v. Cowart, 241 So.2d 748 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970), rev'd on other grounds, 255 So.2d 673 (Fla.1970); Glona v. American Guarantee and Liability Ins. Co., 391 U.S. 73, 88 S.Ct. 1515, 20 L.Ed.2d 441 (1968). The natural mother has, therefore, been recognized as a "parent" within the above cited statute. The natural father is no less a parent than the natural mother. Moreover, the newly adopted wrongful death act reflects a philosophy that lends itself to this construction. 1
To recognize the right of the natural mother of an illegitimate child to maintain a wrongful death action but in the same breath to refuse to recognize the corresponding right of the natural father, would violate the equal protection clauses of the state and federal constitutions. 2 Trimble v. Gordon, supra; Glona v. American Guarantee and Liability Ins. Co., supra. As was observed in Moore v. Thunderbird, Inc., 331 So.2d 555 (La.App.1976), at page 557, "The father is no more nor...
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...Const., Amend. XIV; Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 18. In accord: Moore v. Thunderbird, Inc. (La.App.1976), 331 So.2d 555; Wilcox v. Jones (Fla.App.1977), 346 So.2d 1037, cert. denied, (Fla.Sup.Ct.1978), 357 So.2d 188; Cobb v. State Security Insurance Co. (Mo.Sup.Ct.1979), 576 S.W.2d The situa......
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...Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71, 92 S.Ct. 251, 30 L.Ed.2d 225 (1971); In re Estate of Reed, 354 So.2d 864 (Fla.1978); Wilcox v. Jones, 346 So.2d 1037 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. denied, 357 So.2d 188 (Fla.1978). Thus in this suit we must determine whether men and women are in fact similarly situat......
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Cobb v. State Sec. Ins. Co.
...plaintiff, who would have suffered a wrong without being provided any remedy." Holden, 336 N.Y.S.2d at 655. 15 In Wilcox v. Jones, 346 So.2d 1037 (Fla.App.1977), the Florida appellate court held that "To recognize the right of the natural mother of an illegitimate child to maintain a wrongf......
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...a judicial finding that a parent has abandoned, abused, or neglected a child. See § 39.41(1)(f)(1)(a), Fla.Stat.2 In Wilcox v. Jones, 346 So.2d 1037 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. denied, 357 So.2d 188 (Fla.1978), this court declared that the equal protection clauses of both state and federal c......