TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Spouses who married personal injury plaintiffs after the onset of their injuries can recover damages for the loss of companionship, the Florida Supreme Court has ruled.
The court on May 9 rejected the "marriage before injury" rule in the case of Jennifer Ripple, the surviving spouse of Richard Counter. Ripple and Counter married two months after Counter was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2015, allegedly from exposure to asbestos.
He died later that year, and Ripple filed claims for loss of companionship and mental pain and suffering. The trial court and an appeals court found Ripple was Counter's surviving spouse but was barred from recovery.
The Supreme Court reversed, finding Ripple a "surviving spouse" under state wrongful death laws despite their "marriage before injury." She was married to Counter at the time of his death, so she is a "surviving spouse."
"We acknowledge Respondents' argument that our failure to recognize a 'marriage before injury' defense in these circumstances creates a partial anomaly," the court wrote.
"Because Ripple was not married to the decedent at the time of injury, she could not have pursued a common law action for loss of consortium if the decedent had survived the injury.
"Yet, because of the decedent's death from that same injury, part of Ripple's recovery... might include damages for 'loss of the decedent's companionship and protection' from the date of injury - including, arguably, the same damages that would have been unavailable to Ripple if the decedent had survived."
It is up to the Legislature to decide whether "this is a problem that needs fixing," the court wrote.