Stennett v. Miller

34 Cal.App.5th 284

245 Cal.Rptr.3d 872

Jacqueline STENNETT etc., Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.Danae Marie MILLER et al., Defendants and Respondents.

G054989

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 3, California.

Filed April 12, 2019

OPINION

ARONSON, J.

This case presents two issues: does the nonmarital biological child of an absentee father who never openly held her out as his own have standing under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 ( section 377.60 ) to sue for his wrongful death if she failed to obtain a court order declaring paternity during his lifetime?¹ If she does not have standing, does section 377.60 violate the state or federal equal protection clauses?

We conclude the child does not have standing under the circumstances presented here, and we find no equal protection violation. As explained below, the legislative history of California’s wrongful death statute establishes that standing to sue for wrongful death turns on whether the plaintiff has a right to inherit from the decedent under California’s intestate succession statutes. In this particular case, the child has no right to inherit from the decedent because he never openly held her out as his own and because she never obtained a court order declaring paternity during his lifetime. It follows that she does not have standing to sue for his wrongful death. Notably, a contrary conclusion would deprive the decedent’s parents and siblings of standing to sue for his wrongful death. We cannot imagine the Legislature intended to confer wrongful death standing on a child who had no relationship whatsoever with the decedent to the exclusion of the decedent’s other family members with whom he did have a relationship.

We also reject the appellant’s equal protection argument. California’s wrongful death standing rules do not categorically exclude nonmarital children. They confer standing on a variety of children — both marital and nonmarital — if they satisfy certain criteria concerning their relationship with the decedent during his lifetime. This is not a case where the state has created an insurmountable barrier to nonmarital children; to the contrary, a nonmarital child has multiple statutory avenues for establishing he or she has a right to inherit from the decedent under California’s intestate succession laws and thus has wrongful death standing.

Nor do California’s wrongful death standing rules illegally discriminate on the basis of gender. A state may validly impose different requirements for establishing natural parent status for birth mothers and biological fathers because mothers and fathers are not similarly situated when it comes to their role in becoming parents.

We therefore affirm the judgment dismissing the complaint for lack of standing.

I. FACTS ²

This case arises out of the death of Amine Britel, who was killed by a texting drunk driver at the age of 41. ( Estate of Britel, supra , 236 Cal.App.4th at p. 134, 186 Cal.Rptr.3d 321.) Britel never married, and he died intestate. ( Ibid . ) He was survived by his mother and his two adult sisters.

A.S. is Britel’s biological child, as confirmed by DNA testing conducted after his death. A.S. was conceived during a brief relationship between Britel and A.S.’s mother, appellant Jacqueline Stennett (Jackie), when they were both graduate students. ( Estate of Britel, supra , 236 Cal.App.4th at pp. 132-133, 186 Cal.Rptr.3d 321.) Several months after they parted ways, Jackie informed Britel of her pregnancy. ( Id. at p. 133, 186 Cal.Rptr.3d 321.) Britel felt he never could tell his family about having a child out of wedlock, and he told Jackie that he wanted no contact with her or the baby. ( Ibid . )

Jackie decided she wanted Britel " ‘to participate when he was ready and by his own choice,’ " so she never sought a court order declaring paternity during Britel’s lifetime. ( Estate of Britel, supra , 236 Cal.App.4th at p. 134, 186 Cal.Rptr.3d 321.) A.S. was 10 years old when Britel died in February 2011. She never met Britel or had any relationship with him. ( Ibid . ) After Britel’s death, Jackie filed a petition to have A.S. declared Britel’s heir under the Probate Code’s intestacy provisions. ( Estate of Britel, supra , 236 Cal.App.4th at p. 132, 186 Cal.Rptr.3d 321.) Acting as A.S.’s guardian ad litem, Jackie also filed a wrongful death complaint against the driver who killed Britel and the driver’s parents(collectively, the Millers), among others. The wrongful death action was stayed pending the heirship litigation in the probate court.

The probate court held that A.S. did not qualify as Britel’s heir, and a different panel of this court affirmed that ruling. ( Estate of Britel , supra , 236 Cal.App.4th at pp. 132, 134, 186 Cal.Rptr.3d 321.) As this court explained, if an intestate decedent has no surviving spouse or domestic partner, as was the case here, the estate passes to the decedent’s "issue," that is, his or her lineal descendants as determined by the statutory definitions of parent and child . ( Id. at pp. 135-136, 186 Cal.Rptr.3d 321 [citing Prob. Code, §§ 50, 6402 ].) These definitions provide that a parent-child relationship exists " ‘between a person and the person’s natural parents, regardless of the marital status of the natural parents.’ " ( Ibid. [citing Prob. Code, § 6450, subd. (a) ].) Probate Code section 6453 governs "whether a person is a ‘natural parent’ " and provides, among other things, that a natural parent-child relationship may be "established by clear and convincing evidence that the parent has openly held out the child as his own." ( Prob. Code, § 6453, subd. (b)(2).)

Applying these provisions, this court concluded Britel did not openly hold out A.S. as his own and therefore A.S. did not qualify as his heir under Probate Code section 6453, subdivision (b)(2). ( Estate of Britel, supra , 236 Cal.App.4th at pp. 137-140, 186 Cal.Rptr.3d 321.) This court also rejected A.S.’s equal protection challenge to subdivision (b)(2), although it refrained from deciding the constitutionality of the wrongful death statute. ( Id. at pp. 145-148, fn.12, 186 Cal.Rptr.3d 321.)

After Estate of Britel was decided, the Millers moved for judgment on the pleadings against A.S. in the wrongful death action. The trial court granted their motion and dismissed the complaint for lack of standing. It reasoned that standing for wrongful death hinges on whether a plaintiff qualifies as the decedent’s heir under California’s intestate succession statutes. It also rejected Jackie’s equal protection challenge to the wrongful death statute. Jackie appealed.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

We review de novo questions of statutory construction and the determination of a statute’s constitutionality. ( Lee v. Hanley (2015) 61 Cal.4th 1225, 1232, 191 Cal.Rptr.3d 536, 354 P.3d 334 ; Rental Housing Owners Assn. of Southern Alameda County, Inc. v. City of Hayward (2011) 200 Cal.App.4th 81, 90, 133 Cal.Rptr.3d 155.)

B. A.S. Lacks Standing to Sue for Wrongful Death

1. General Principles Guiding Our Analysis

In California, a wrongful death cause of action "is wholly statutory in origin." ( Steed v. Imperial Airlines (1974) 12 Cal.3d 115, 119-120, 115 Cal.Rptr. 329, 524 P.2d 801 ( Steed ).) As our Supreme Court has explained, "the Legislature intends to occupy the field of recovery for wrongful death." ( Justus v. Atchison (1977) 19 Cal.3d 564, 575, 139 Cal.Rptr. 97, 565 P.2d 122 ( Justus ), disapproved on other grounds in Ochoa v. Superior Court (1985) 39 Cal.3d 159, 171, 216 Cal.Rptr. 661, 703 P.2d 1.) "Because it is a creature of statute, the cause of action for wrongful death ‘exists only so far and in favor of such person as the legislative power may declare.’ " ( Ibid . )

Thus, " ‘the right to bring such an action is limited to those persons identified’ " in the wrongful death statute, section 377.60. ( Scott v. Thompson (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 1506, 1510, 109 Cal.Rptr.3d 846 ( Scott ); see Steed , supra , 12 Cal.3d at p. 119, 115 Cal.Rptr. 329, 524 P.2d 801 [" ‘It is well settled that the right to bring an action for the wrongful death of a human being is limited to the persons described in [the statute]’ "].) The category of persons eligible to bring wrongful death actions is strictly construed. ( Cheyanna M. v. A.C. Nielsen Co. (1998) 66 Cal.App.4th 855, 865, 78 Cal.Rptr.2d 335 ( Cheyanna M. ).)

The wrongful death statute provides in pertinent part: "A cause of action for the death of a person caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another may be asserted by any of the following persons ... [¶] (a) The decedent’s surviving spouse, domestic partner, children , and issue of deceased children, or, if there is no surviving issue of the decedent, the persons, including the surviving spouse or domestic partner, who would be entitled to the property of the decedent by intestate succession." ( § 377.60, subd. (a), italics added.)³ This appeal turns on the meaning of the word "children" and whether A.S. qualifies as Britel’s "child" under section 377.60, subdivision (a). This is a question of statutory interpretation.

"In determining the meaning of the section, we are guided by the following established principles: ‘[O]ur first task in construing a statute is to ascertain the intent of the Legislature so as to effectuate the purpose of the law. In determining such intent, [we] must look first to the words of the statute themselves, giving to the language its usual, ordinary import .... The words of the statute must be construed in context, keeping in mind the statutory purpose, and statutes or statutory sections relating to the same subject must be harmonized, both internally and with each other, to the extent possible. [Citations.] Where uncertainty exists consideration should be given to the consequences that will flow from a particular interpretation. [Citation.] Both the legislative history of the statute and the wider historical circumstances of its enactment may be considered in ascertaining the legislative...