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Bushey v. Northern Assurance Co. of America2/3/2000
n of parent and natural guardian...and the position of plaintiff demanding damages from the child at law.
Schneider, 160 Md. at 21-23.
Appellants argue that even if Maryland precludes claims by parents against their minor children, in this case, the parents should be permitted to sue because the liable party is a deceased child, and the source of compensation is an insurance company. Therefore, protecting the sanctity of the family is inapplicable in this instance.
We decline to allow a parent to sue a deceased child merely because the source of potential compensation is an insurance company. The Court of Appeals addressed this specific issue in Frye v. Frye, 305 Md. 542, 562-67, 505 A.2d 826 (1986), and Warren v. Warren, 336 Md. 618, 626-28, 650 A.2d 252 (1994), and declined to abrogate the parent-child immunity doctrine despite compulsory liability insurance laws. Rather, Maryland's highest court concluded that excluding motor torts from the parent-child immunity rule because of compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance would have an impact upon the insurance scheme and is therefore a matter for the Maryland legislature, not the judiciary. Warren, 336 Md. at 627-28; Frye, 305 Md. at 566-67.
Whether the parent-child immunity doctrine applies in cases where the liable party is a deceased minor child appears to be one of first impression in Maryland. There have been only three exceptions to the parent-child immunity doctrine, none of which apply to this case. Eagan v. Calhoun, 347 Md. 72, 75, 698 A.2d 1097 (1997)(citing Mahnke v. Moore, 197 Md. 61, 77 A.2d 923 (1951), in which the court allowed a child to sue her father's estate for cruel and inhuman treatment; Waltzinger v. Birsner, 212 Md. 107, 128 A.2d 617 (1957), in which an emancipated child could sue his parent after reaching the age of majority; and Hatzinicolas v. Protopapas, 314 Md. 340, 550 A.2d 947 (1988), in which a child could sue his parent's business partner for negligence).
The parent-child immunity doctrine is based on the public policy to preserve the peace and harmony of the family. Frye, 305 Md. at 552. In Warren v. Warren, Judge Karwacki listed three additional reasons for the doctrine: the preservation of parental discipline and control, the prevention of fraud and collusion, and the threat that litigation between parents and children may deplete family resources. Warren, 336 Md. at 625. All of these justifications for the doctrine emphasize the family unit rather than the individual parent or child. Even though Susan, the liable party, is deceased, allowing appellants to sue their daughter for negligence goes against the public policy of preserving the peace and harmony of the family.
The Eagan court specifically declined to allow for an immunity exception to acts of negligence, such as automobile accidents, because: although such tragedies may well put a serious strain on some of the family relationships, they do not generally destroy a parent-child relationship. A parent who negligently causes the death of his or her spouse or of a child can still maintain a parent-child relationship; the family, even in its grief, can survive.
347 Md. 72, 83, 698 A.2d 1097 (1997)(emphasis added). We feel constrained to follow that reasoning and do so in affirming the court below.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
APPELLANTS TO PAY COSTS.
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