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Hern v. Safeco Insurance Co. of Illinois11/29/2005
ith his parents reinforced the cultural ties that bind the generations of Blackfeet. Because of his unique personality, disciplined life style and deep cultural connections, his parents chose him to carry on the family's tradition of tribal and spiritual leadership. Both George and Molly underwent psychological counseling to help them deal with their grief and the tragic loss of their son. Bear Medicine, 192 F.Supp.2d at 1064-65.
The federal court explained its rationale for expanding recovery to the parents of an adult child by stating:
The Montana Supreme Court has "recognized repeatedly authority and responsibility for the continued development of the common law" in this area. Montana allows loss of consortium claims by a husband or wife whose spouse has been killed or injured. Montana also allows loss of consortium claims by a minor child or a parent whose minor child or parent has been killed or injured. Allowing a loss of consortium claim for parents of adult children only furthers this development of the common law and is consistent with the purposes of the law recognized by the legislature of the State of Montana as interpreted by the Montana Supreme Court.
Bear Medicine, 192 F.Supp.2d at 1067 (internal citations omitted).
In addition to the federal court's reliance on Montana policy in this area, it also relied on Howard Frank, M.D., P.C. v. Superior Court (Ariz. 1986), 722 P.2d 955. In Frank, the Arizona court reasoned that parents should be able to recover for the loss of consortium of an adult child because the grief and sorrow of losing a child does not end when that child turns eighteen. The federal court noted that we have previously followed the rationale of the Arizona Supreme Court in another important loss of parental consortium claim. See Keele v. St. Vincent Hosp. & Health Care (1993), 258 Mont. 158, 162, 852 P.2d 574, 577, wherein we cited Villareal v. State, Dept. of Transp. (Ariz. 1989), 774 P.2d 213. Bear Medicine, 192 F.Supp.2d at 1067.
In Keele, relying on Pence, the district court dismissed a minor's claim for loss of parental consortium because the parent who suffered the tortious injury was not rendered a quadriplegic. We concluded that the court's interpretation of Pence requiring quadriplegia was too narrow. We therefore crafted a new standard to be applied to loss of parental consortium claims and relied heavily on Villareal's rationale.
Lastly, the federal court recognized that " he loss of [the parent-child] relationship, not the arbitrary age of the individuals involved, determines whether a loss of consortium claim is appropriate. Once viewed in this manner, it is proof of the quality of the relationship that should logically govern the extent of any claim by a parent concerning their damages incurred by the death of their adult child." Bear Medicine, 192 F.Supp.2d at 1067-68.
We conclude that under certain circumstances such as those evidenced by the relationship between Leland Kicking Woman and his parents, the bond between parents and an adult child, and the loss experienced by the parents at the death of or serious injury to their child, may be of such quality as to warrant recovery by the parents for loss of consortium. Having said this, we cannot craft a hard and fast set of facts or rule that will define exactly under what circumstances a loss of consortium claim by parents of an adult child will stand. Rather, each case must be determined on the facts and evidence presented. We conclude, however, that significant evidence of an extraordinarily close and interdependent relationship must be presented before a court may consider awarding loss of consortium damages to the
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