Relatives Cannot Recover Damages On Behalf of Decedent Unless Decedents Estate is Party to the Action

Kitchen v. Teeters 12th Dist. App. No. 06-048, 2012 Ohio 4343. Prior to decedents death, decedents relatives met with decedents churchs superintendent and decedents pastor and expressed concern about the pastors involvement in decedents affairs, specifically that he had been named as health care power of attorney and executor of decedents will. Upon her relatives urging, decedent had her attorney remove the pastor from her estate planning documents and powers of attorney. The pastor retained the revised estate planning and power of attorney documents for decedent.

Decedents relatives filed claims against the pastor, church superintendent and the church, including breach of fiduciary duty, negligence and emotional distress alleging that the pastor refused to turn the estate planning documents and/or powers of attorney over to decedents relatives so they could make health, funeral and disposition decisions, causing damage to decedents relatives.

The decedent had a relationship with the pastor and his wife and was a member of his congregation, thereby giving rise to certain duties owed by the pastor or church to decedent. On the other hand, decedents relatives did not have a relationship with the pastor and were not members of the church. Because decedents relatives only brought claims on their own behalf, not on the behalf of decedent or her estate, the church and pastor did not owe a duty of care to decedents relatives, but instead only owed a duty to decedent. On appeal, the trial courts summary judgment in favor of the pastor and church was affirmed because there was no duty owed to the decedents relatives where decedent was not a party to the litigation, but the only person who had a relationship with the church and pastor.