Opinion
C.A. 99C-11-066-VAB.
Submitted: May 10, 2000.
Decided: August 24, 2000.
ORDER
Upon Defendants' Motions to Dismiss Brenda D. Cosine's Individual, Wrongful Death Claim- GRANTED
This is a wrongful death case. Decedent died on December 17, 1998. At that time, Delaware's wrongful death statute, 10 Del. C. § 3724, did not provide a cause of action for siblings. Approximately six months after decedent's death, the General Assembly amended the wrongful death statute to make it possible for siblings to sue for wrongful death. The statutory amendment flatly states, however: "This act shall apply to all wrongful deaths which occur after enactment."
72 Del. Laws, C. 47, § 4 (1999).
Plaintiff is mistaken when she asserts: "It is uncertain whether this law applies to siblings as of December 17, 1998." Because decedent died before the date of the amendment's enactment, June 14, 1999, decedent's sibling has no wrongful death claim. This result may seem harsh, but the General Assembly made its intent plain when it amended the wrongful death statute in 1999.
For the foregoing reasons, oral argument will not be helpful and Defendants' Motions to Dismiss Brenda D. Cosine's wrongful death claim are GRANTED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Judge
oc: Prothonotary (Civil Division) pc: Edward C. Pankowski, Jr., Esquire Gregg E. Wilson, Esquire Stephen P. Casarino, Esquire