Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 63348; Unpublished
Judges Bronson, Gillis, and MacKenzie; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Nature of Survivor’s Loss Benefits [§3108(1)]
Non-Stacking of PIP Benefits [§3115(3)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Legislative Purpose and Intent
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous per curiam Opinion, the Court of Appeals held that the minor child of a parent who dies in an automobile accident cannot recover survivor's loss benefits from the insurer of the operator of the vehicle in which her parent was killed beyond the time the minor child receives three years of survivor's loss benefits from her parent's own no-fault insurance company. The court based its opinion on the "anti-stacking" provisions of §3115(3) of the No-Fault Act and the prior decisions of the Court of Appeals in Beaver v Auto-Owners (item number 352) and O'Hannisian v DAIIE (item number 455). The Court held that the clear language of §3108 and §3115(3) prohibits the plaintiff from recovering more than three years of survivor's loss benefits even though she would continue to be a minor dependent for an additional seven years after her survivor's loss benefits expired. The Court reasoned that had the legislature desired to compensate minors beyond the three year benefit period set forth in the statute, it could have easily enacted such a provision. It chose not to do so.
