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Shirley Jones, Personal Representative of the Estate of Evelyn V. Manning v. Brian T. Flood et al., No. 124, September Term, 1997.

[Survival action - Instant death - No dependents - Held: Lost future earnings not recoverable by personal representative.]

Circuit Court for Prince George's County Case # CAL95-04938

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 124 September Term, 1997 _________________________________________ SHIRLEY JONES, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF EVELYN V. MANNING v. BRIAN T. FLOOD et al. _________________________________________ Bell, C.J. Eldridge Rodowsky Chasanow Raker Wilner Cathell, JJ. _________________________________________ Opinion by Rodowsky, J. _________________________________________ Filed: September 1, 1998

We issued the writ of certiorari in this case to decide whether the personal representative of a decedent, whose death was tortiously caused, may recover damages in a survival action measured by lost earnings for the period after death to the end of the statistical life expectancy that would have been predicted for the decedent if the tort had not occurred. In answering this question in the negative, we reject the petitioner's contention that an affirmative answer is required by Monias v. Endal, 330 Md. 274, 623 A.2d 656 (1993). The petitioner is Shirley Jones, as personal representative of the estate of Evelyn V. Manning (Manning). Manning was killed in a motor vehicle accident on Route 202 in Prince George's County that occurred on December 29, 1994. A vehicle operated by the

respondent, Brian T. Flood, and owned by the respondent, Prince George's County, struck Manning, crushed her against her disabled vehicle, and killed her. Manning's immediate survivors are her four children, all of whom are over twenty-one and none of whom was dependent on her. A divorcee, Manning was unmarried at the time of her death. After the present action was instituted in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, the parties agreed that the petitioner would voluntarily dismiss a claim for punitive damages; they stipulated that Manning suffered no conscious pain after the accident, and the respondents admitted liability. There remained for disposition the petitioner's claims for future lost earnings and for funeral expenses. The circuit court granted a motion for partial summary judgment in favor of the respondents on the lost earnings claim, and, as a result of a waiver of jury trial, the judgment for funeral expenses was entered by the court.

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The petitioner appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, which affirmed. Jones v. Flood, 118 Md. App. 217, 702 A.2d 440 (1997). We issued the writ of certiorari on the petition of the personal representative. The action before us may be maintained because Maryland Code (1974, 1995 Repl. Vol.),

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