6:3 Lawyer for Wrongful Death Beneficiary – Duty to Non-Client Beneficiaries

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 6:3 Lawyer for Wrongful Death Beneficiary – Duty to Non-Client Beneficiaries

In Wilmot v. Wilmot,^[238] an attorney^[239] filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the widow of the decedent. Well into the litigation, the widow informed the attorney that the decedent had six adult children by an earlier marriage; she also claimed that she had no information as to their whereabouts.

The attorney amended the complaint heading to reflect this and hired a private detective, who skip traced all six children back to New England, where they all lived. In a conversation with the oldest child, the attorney learned that all six adult children were deeply estranged from their father (the decedent) and had no contact with him in twenty two years, by their own choice.

The oldest child indicated in a later conversation that all of the adult children had no desire to participate in the lawsuit, but asked if the attorney would take a phone call from their family attorney in Pennsylvania and the attorney agreed. The family attorney from Pennsylvania called shortly thereafter and after a short discussion, indicated that his clients would not be participating in the wrongful death lawsuit.

Unwilling to leave it there, the attorney for the widow sent certified letters to all six children confirming their nonparticipation and stating that if they changed their minds, they needed to do so within thirty days, because the case was moving forward. The family attorney in Pennsylvania sent a response letter telling the attorney for the widow to keep him posted if anything changed, but he sent...