Preview:

Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance
sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions,
Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334)
229-0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made
before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.

ALABAMA COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS

OCTOBER TERM, 2011-2012

2100446


Tamarra Martin and Lesester Williams

v.


Hodges Chapel, LLC, and
Whispering Pines Cemetery, LLC

Appeal from Mobile Circuit Court
(CV-10-901467)

PITTMAN, Judge.

Tamarra Martin and Lesester Williams (hereinafter

referred to collectively as "the plaintiffs") appeal from a

judgment dismissing their complaint against Hodges Chapel, LLC

("the funeral home"),1  and Whispering Pines Cemetery, LLC

("the cemetery").  We affirm in part, reverse in part, and
remand for further proceedings.

On June 25, 2010, the plaintiffs sued the funeral home,
the cemetery, and several fictitiously named defendants,
alleging claims of negligence, wantonness, the tort of
outrage, breach of contract, and fraud, based on the following
factual allegations.  The plaintiffs had arranged with the
funeral home to have four of their deceased family members
buried in the cemetery: Emma Lee Prince (Martin's mother and
Williams's grandmother) ("Ms. Prince"), who had been buried in
April 1990; Steven Prince, Sr. (Martin's father and Williams's
grandfather) ("Prince, Sr."), who had been buried in March
1996; Stephen Prince, Jr. (Martin's brother and Williams's
uncle) ("Prince, Jr."), who had been buried in January 2000;
and William Mae Mobley (Martin's brother and Williams's
father) ("Mobley"), who had been buried in January 2004.  The
plaintiffs could not afford to place headstones or other

1In their complaint, the plaintiffs identified this party
as "Hodges Funeral Chapel, LLC."  As discussed infra, this
party indicated that its correct name is "Hodge's Chapel,
LLC."  We have amended the style of this case to reflect the
correct name of this party.

markers on the graves at the time of the burials, but the
funeral home assured the plaintiffs that it "kept accurate
records" of the location of the grave sites so that the graves
could be found for visitation and the later placement of
headstones.  The condition of the cemetery premises
deteriorated over time, and the landmarks changed so that it
became difficult to locate the grave sites.  In May 2009,
Martin contacted the funeral home to find the location of her
mother's grave so that she could place a headstone there;
Martin also requested the location of her father's and
brothers' graves.  The funeral home provided Martin with the
location of her father's and brothers' graves by lot and
section number, but the funeral home was unable to tell her
the location of her mother's grave.  The plaintiffs asserted
that they had recently been informed of a pending lawsuit, in
which it had been alleged that the same defendants had kept
poor records and had misplaced another decedent's remains, and
they "suspect[ed] that there [was] a great likelihood" that
the location of all four of their family members' graves was
also unknown.

Both defendants were served with the complaint.  Although
the cemetery failed to answer or otherwise defend, the funeral
home filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, a
motion for a summary judgment, first stating that it had been
incorrectly named in the complaint as "Hodges Funeral Chapel,
LLC," when its correct name was "Hodge's Chapel, LLC."  Citing
Ex parte Liberty National Life Insurance Co., 825 So. 2d 758,
763-66 (Ala. 2002), the funeral home asserted that, because
the plaintiffs' claims, it said, arose from the interment of
Ms. Prince, who had been buried in April 1990, but were not
brought until June 2010, the plaintiffs' claims were barred by
the 20-year rule of repose.  Second, the funeral home asserted
that the plaintiffs' complaint was due to be dismissed based
on the two-year limitations period set forth in

Download 2100446.pdf

Alabama Law