Wayne County Circuit Court; Docket No. C.A. No. 78 840 318 CK; Unpublished
Judge Harry J. Dingeman, Jr.; Written Opinion
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Nature of Survivor’s Loss Benefits [§3108(1)]
Calculation of Survivor’s Loss Benefits and Maximums [§3108(1)]
Dependents [§3108(1)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this written opinion pursuant to a bench trial, Judge Dingeman found that a 39 year-old physically disabled mother was dependent upon her 17 year-old son at the time of his death and, as a result, was entitled to recover survivor's loss benefits equal to those sums of money that the deceased son regularly gave his mother while living with her. However, the mother was not entitled to recover replacement service expenses for these services performed by her husband (the decedent's stepfather) because those expenses had not been "incurred" within the meaning of Adkinsv Auto-Owners (item number 339) which requires that one expend money or become liable for the expense in order for it to be considered incurred. In this case, the mother had "promised" to pay her husband $20 per day if it could be recovered from the insurance company. This was not a legal or binding obligation according to Judge Dingeman nor is it one which could be said to be reasonably incurred.
