Prosecuting and Defending When A Decedent or Ward is a Party

Rudolph M. Culp (associate, Horrigan & Goehrs, L.L.P.) & Joseph S. Horrigan (partner, Horrigan & Goehrs, L.L.P.) have published their article entitled Decedents or Wards as Parties, The Advocate, Fall 2009, at 68.

An excerpt from the introduction of the article is below:

Identification of the proper parties to litigation involving decedents or wards is essential to personal jurisdiction.  Woe to plaintiff’s counsel who first learns on appeal that the proper defendant was not a party to the judgment.

This paper surveys the Rules of Procedure, the Probate Code, and the Trust Code concerning the effect on pending litigation of death or disability, as well as the requirements for prosecuting or defending suits initiated after death or disability.