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MATTER OF ESTATE OF VOSS9/18/1996
her lawsuit:
The petition shows that at the time this action was commenced, [plaintiff] did not have the capacity to sue. Therefore, this action did not toll the statute of limitations. Any later appointment will occur after the limitations period has run. Under our holding in Pearson that appointment will not relate back. Therefore, [plaintiff's] future appointment as administrator cannot prevent the expiration of the limitations period.
Id. at 224.
We think similar reasoning applies here. At the time Voss made her administrative claim, she was not the personal representative of her son's estate and therefore, her claim was defective. The Board denied her claim prior to her appointment as the administrator of the estate. Because there was no pending claim at the time of her appointment, there was no administrative proceeding in which her appointment could relate back.
A less theoretical reason also supports the rule a claimant's later appointment as the estate's personal representative cannot save a defective claim. Requiring the Board to delay consideration of a claim while waiting for the claimant to obtain the legal authority to pursue it would defeat the statutory goal of prompt settlement.
In summary, timely settlement of claims and effective use of administrative resources would not be encouraged by allowing the revival of a defective claim almost two years after it has been administratively closed. Thus, we hold Voss's 1995 appointment as the administrator of her son's estate did not relate back to retroactively validate her 1993 claim under the Tort Claims Act.
IV. Summary.
The administrative claim made by Voss in her individual capacity for her son's death was defective because she was not the person to whom the State would be liable for that death. The State was liable, if at all, to the personal representative of Bryan Voss's estate. Voss never submitted a claim to the Board in her capacity as administrator of the estate. Therefore, she failed to exhaust the estate's administrative remedies and consequently, the district court did not have subject matter jurisdiction of this suit. The district court correctly granted the defendants' motion to dismiss.
AFFIRMED.
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