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An  unpublished  opinion  of  the  North  Carolina  Court  of  Appeals  does  not  constitute
controlling legal  authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance
with the provisions of Rule  30(e)(3) of the  North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.
NO. COA12-567
NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS
Filed:  5 February  2013
THE ESTATE OF BRITTANY BRIDGES, by
and through the Administratix of
her Estate Tammy Wright,
Plaintiff,
v.                                                                                              Gaston County
No.  11 CVS  2098
NORTH CAROLINA FARM BUREAU MUTUAL
INSURANCE COMPANY, INC.,
Defendant.
Appeal  by  plaintiff  from  order  entered                                                     31  January                     2012  by
Judge  Steve  A.  Balog  in  Gaston  County  Superior  Court.    Heard  in
the Court of Appeals  27 November  2012.
The  Bumgardner  Law  Firm,  by  Thomas  D.  Bumgardner,  for
plaintiff-appellant.
Young  Moore  and  Henderson  P.A.,  by  Walter  E.  Brock,  Jr.  and
Andrew  P.  Flynt,  and  Caudle  &  Spears,  P.A.,  by  Harold  Craig
Spears, for defendant-appellee.
HUNTER, Robert C., Judge.
The  Estate  of  Brittany  Bridges                                                              (“plaintiff”)  appeals  from
the  trial  court’s  order  granting  North  Carolina  Farm  Bureau
Mutual   Insurance   Company,   Inc.’s                                                          (“defendant’s”)   motion   to
dismiss  and,  in  the  alternative  and  independent  of  its  prior




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ruling,  granting  summary  judgment  in  favor  of  defendant.     In
light  of  this  Court’s  decision  in  The  Estate  of  Matthew  Bridges
v.  N.C.  Farm  Bureau  Mut.  Ins.  Co.,                                     __  N.C.  App.                                   __,              __,                                   __
S.E.2d  __,  __  (No.  COA12-566)  (Feb.  5,  2013)  (“Estate  of  Matthew
Bridges”),   we   affirm   the   trial   court’s   order    granting
defendant’s motion to dismiss.
The  majority  of  the  facts  pertinent  to  this  appeal  are  set
forth  in  the  companion  case  of  Estate  of  Matthew  Bridges,           __
N.C.  App.  at                                                               __,                                              __  S.E.2d  at   __,  filed  contemporaneously  with
this  decision,  and  we  will  not  restate  them  in  this  opinion.
The  facts  of  the  present  case  differ  from  the  companion  case  in
only  three  respects:                                                       (1)  plaintiff  filed  its  complaint  against
defendant  on  20  May  2011;  (2)  plaintiff’s  complaint  only  asserts
a  claim  for  a  declaratory  judgment;  and  (3)  defendant  filed  its
motion to dismiss  5 August  2011.
All  of  plaintiff’s  arguments  on  appeal  are  identical  to
those  in  companion  case  Estate  of  Matthew  Bridges.     For  the
reasons  stated  in  Estate  of  Matthew  Bridges,  we  affirm  the  trial
court’s order granting defendant’s motion to dismiss.
AFFIRMED.
Judges McGEE and ELMORE concur.




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Report per Rule  30(e).

Download 12-567.pdf

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