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Estate pf Kuhns v. Marco5/10/2000
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Richard G. Blane II, Judge.
Plaintiffs appeal from the district court order granting defendant's motion for summary judgment in their personal injury suit. AFFIRMED.
Plaintiffs Jeffrey Kuhns and Pearl Guy, executors and legal representatives of the Estate of Dorothy Kuhns, appeal from the district court order granting defendant Marco's motion for summary judgment in their personal injury suit. They contend the court erred in granting summary judgment because (1) substitution of the real parties in interest pursuant to Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 2 relates back to filing of the original petition despite rule 69(e); (2) rule 49(f) and the intent behind the rules require the amended petition to relate back to the filing of the original petition; (3) rule 69(e) should not be applied to cases amending plaintiffs' names; (4) the district court misapplied rule 69(e); and (5) the district court improperly dismissed their action. We affirm.
I. Factual Background and Proceedings. Dorothy Kuhns and Dale Marco ("Marco") were involved in a car accident on December 23, 1996. Mrs. Kuhns suffered some injuries as result of the accident. She died from unrelated causes on September 21, 1997. Her will named her children, Jeffrey Kuhns ("Kuhns") and Pearl Guy ("Guy"), executors of her estate. They filed the present action on December 22, 1998, the day before the statute of limitations expired, alleging negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress theories against Marco. The Estate of Dorothy Kuhns was the only named plaintiff in the original petition. Plaintiffs served Marco with notice of the original petition on January 9, 1999.
On January 28, 1999, Marco filed a motion to dismiss for failure to name the real party in interest pursuant to Iowa Code sections 611.20 and 611.22. On February 24, 1999, Kuhns and Guy filed a motion for leave to amend and substitute the petition to add their names as plaintiffs and as the legal representatives and executors of the Estate. The district court granted the motion to amend and denied the motion to dismiss.
On March 16, 1999, Marco filed a motion for summary judgment contending the amended and substituted petition did not relate back to the original filing date and therefore the cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations. The district court granted Marco's motion on May 14, 1999. The Estate, Kuhns, and Guy appeal.
II. Standard of Review. A claim, which is barred by the applicable statute of limitations, may be properly disposed of by summary judgment. Stahl v. Preston Mut. Ins. Ass'n, 517 N.W.2d 201, 202 (Iowa 1994). Our review of a grant or denial of summary judgment is for errors of law. Iowa R. App. P. 4; Gabrilson v. Flynn, 554 N.W.2d 267, 270 (Iowa 1996). We review summary judgment motions to determine the existence of any genuine issue of material fact and whether the law was correctly applied. Hegg v. Hawkeye Tri-County REC, 512 N.W.2d 558, 559 (Iowa 1994). The burden rests on the movant to establish the right to summary judgment. Enochs v. City of Des Moines, 314 N.W.2d 378, 380 (Iowa 1982). We review the record in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Smith v. CRST Int'l, Inc., 553 N.W.2d 890, 893 (Iowa 1996); Hill v. McCartney, 590 N.W.2d 52, 55 (Iowa App. 1998).
III. Error Preservation. Plaintiffs argue Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 2 mandates substitution of the real parties in interest and permits relation back of the amendment to the date they filed the original petition despite the requirements of rule 69(e). Marco contends plaintiffs did not preserve error with respect to their rul
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