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Ferguson v. Gateway Insurance Co.12/28/2004
a pleading "shall be freely given when justice so requires." The circuit court's duty was to permit amendment of the pleadings liberally "to permit matters to be pleaded, which were overlooked or unknown when the action was originally filed." Rhodus v. Wheeler, 927 S.W.2d 433, 436 (Mo. App. 1996).
We first brush aside Gateway's contention that we should not consider the Fergusons' point on the ground that the Fergusons raised it for the first time on appeal. Gateway's argument is wrong; the Fergusons did not raise the matter for the first time on appeal. Facing Gateway's motion for summary judgment, the Fergusons asked the circuit court for leave to amend their petition to add Douglas Ferguson as a defendant.
The circuit court did not abuse its discretion in denying the Fergusons leave to amend their petition to add Douglas Ferguson as a defendant while he still was a plaintiff. The circuit court cannot permit a party to sue himself. See Townsend v. Townsend , 708 S.W.2d 646, 647 (Mo. banc 1986) (explaining the prohibition of spouses from suing each other as resting on the reasoning that, because husband and wife are a single unit, allowing spouses to sue would be tantamount to party suing himself or herself).
For these reasons, the circuit court properly granted Gateway's motion for summary judgment. We affirm.
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