INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) – A grown man who lived with his mother until her death can’t recover more than $300,000 in the subsequent lawsuit because he wasn’t dependent on her, an Indiana court has ruled.
Though mother Virginia Newman bought son Vaughn two cars and gave him a place to live rent-free for more than 10 years, an inspection of Vaughn’s financial situation – which included a salary of more than $40,000 at the time of Virginia’s death – proved he is eligible for limited damages, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 31.
“The undisputed evidence demonstrates that Vaughn’s rent-free living arrangement arose out of convenience and his desire to care for his ailing mother, not out of necessity,” Judge Margret Robb wrote.
“The arrangement allowed him to live with and care for his mother and avoid moving to a cheaper apartment within his budget but located in an unacceptable or unsafe area.”
Indiana’s Adult Wrongful Death Statute limits damages for unmarried (Virginia was a widow) without dependents to medical, hospital, funeral and burial expenses and no more than $300,000 for loss of love and companionship.
Virginia died in 2018 when her wheelchair wasn’t securely fastened in a vehicle used for the Franciscan Senior Health & Wellness Day Care program. When the driver turned, the wheelchair fell over. Virginia was injured and died 13 days later.
Vaughn filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligence and making a claim under the Indiana Survival Act.
Franciscan’s defense admitted liability and argued Vaughn could only recover under the Adult Wrongful Death Statute rather than the Survival Act. The trial court disagreed but was overruled by the appeals court.
The decision lists the various ways Virginia helped Vaughn with his finances through the years but stopped well short of claiming that proved he was dependent on her.
“Rather than Vaughn being a dependent of Virginia, it seems that Virginia was dependent on Vaughn but not in the required legal sense,” Judge Robb wrote.
“Although the two may have relied on each other, the arrangement is not the dependency contemplated in the (General Wrongful Death Statute).”