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Keywords

lawsuitplaintiffdefendantdivorce
plaintiffdefendantasylum

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Rayburn v. Moore, 241 So.2d 675

Facts

Carmen Hihn, a six-year-old girl, brought a lawsuit against her stepfather, Lyle M. Moore, after her mother, Sharon Moore, was killed in an automobile accident while riding in a car owned by Moore. Carmen's mother had divorced her biological father, Elmo Hihn, and later married Moore, with whom she had three additional children. Although Moore supported Carmen, he never adopted her and was not legally obligated to do so. Following the accident, Carmen was placed under the guardianship of her maternal grandmother.

The plaintiff, six year old Carmen Hihn, through her court appointed guardian, sued her stepfather, Lyle M. Moore, alleging that he wrongfully caused the death of her mother, Sharon Moore.

Issue

Whether the parental immunity doctrine applies in this case, where the plaintiff is a minor stepchild of the defendant who supported the plaintiff but was under no legal obligation to do so.

The question is whether the parental immunity doctrine announced by this Court in Hewellette v. George, 68 Miss. 703, 9 So. 885 (1891), applies in this case, where the plaintiff is a minor stepchild of the defendant who supported the plaintiff but was under no legal obligation to do so.

Rule

The parental immunity doctrine, as established in Hewellette v. George, prohibits unemancipated minors from suing their parents for personal injuries, based on public policy considerations.

In Hewellette, supra, this Court held that an unemancipated minor child could not maintain an action against her mother for maliciously causing said minor to be imprisoned in an insane asylum.

Analysis

The court analyzed the applicability of the parental immunity doctrine to the facts of the case, noting that while Lyle M. Moore acted in loco parentis to Carmen Hihn, he was not under a legal obligation to support her. The court distinguished this case from previous rulings that upheld the doctrine, asserting that extending the doctrine to this situation would not align with the underlying policy reasons.

In the present case Lyle M. Moore stood in loco parentis to Carmen Hihn to the extent that he supported her and treated her the same as his own children, but he was not under a legal obligation to do so.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court reversed the Circuit Court's dismissal of the suit and remanded the case for further proceedings, concluding that the parental immunity doctrine did not apply.

Reversed and remanded.

Who won?

Carmen Hihn prevailed in the case because the court found that the parental immunity doctrine did not apply to her situation, allowing her to maintain her lawsuit against her stepfather.

The Supreme Court, Gillespie, P.J., held that parental immunity doctrine did not apply where, although defendant supported plaintiff, he was under no legal obligation to do so.

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