Jackson County Circuit Court; File No. 77-010070; Unpublished
Judge James G. Fleming; 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)]
12% Interest Penalty on Overdue Benefits – Nature and Scope [§3142(2), (3)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
Judge James Fleming wrote a lengthy Opinion in this survivor's loss action brought under §3108 of the no-fault statute by a widower regarding the auto accident death of his wife. At the time of the accident, the plaintiff /husband was unemployed as the result of a prior work related disability and was drawing monthly worker's compensation and social security disability benefits. His wife was employed full-time as a nurse at the time of her death. The major issue in the case was how the husband's survivor's loss benefits should be computed.
The deceased wife's after tax monthly income was $1,044. Proofs showed that of this sum, $330.39 was used for the wife's own personal consumption. The proofs also showed that the plaintiff and his wife used their joint incomes to pay approximately $707 in monthly expenses. The plaintiff argued that the difference between his wife's after tax income ($1,044) and her personal consumption expenses ($330.39) should be the plaintiff’s monthly survivor's loss benefits ($713.61). The insurance company argued that the monthly survivor's loss benefits should be the difference between the wife's after tax income ($1,044) and the joint monthly living expenses ($707) which is the sum of $337. The defendant also argued that the plaintiff/husband was not a "dependent" of his wife as that term is used in §3108. Judge Fleming rejected the defendant's contentions and, in so doing, made several significant no-fault holdings:
1. Judge Fleming held that the plaintiff/husband was a "dependent" of his wife. Without his wife's income he "could not exist at the standard of living the parties had accustomed themselves to, and that standard was a modest one." It was clear that the plaintiff and his wife had pooled their funds to provide for their essentials and to purchase other things such as a new car every few years, retirement property in Florida, etc. Judge Fleming wrote, "The No-Fault Act was not intended to reduce a survivor to the lowest possible denominator or standard of living. It implies that if the principal wage earner dies as a result of a motor vehicle related accident, that person's survivor or survivors will receive survivor benefits for a maximum of three years and thus enable them to maintain a modest standard of living that should be comparable to the circumstances preceding the principal wage earner's death."
2. Judge Fleming ruled that because of the fact that his wife's death has deprived him of the standard of living which plaintiff maintained prior to the wife's death, the plaintiff was entitled to recover, as survivor's loss benefits, the difference between the wife's after tax dollars and the amount spent on her own personal consumption expenses. Judge Fleming commented that this is the amount per month "that does not now come into his household and which was used before her death to assist with her normal living expense as well as accumulating funds for periodic major purchases or indebtedness."
3. In light of the fact that the defendant insurance company did not tender any amount in survivor's loss benefits to the plaintiff during the pendency of this dispute, Judge Fleming ruled that their conduct was "unreasonable" thereby justifying an attorney fee award under §3148 of the statute. Judge Fleming ordered the insurance company to pay an attorney fee based upon an hourly rate of $50 per hour.
4. The fact that plaintiff had pending a claim for workers' compensation benefits arising out of the death of his wife did not mitigate defendant's responsibility to make survivor's benefit payments to him during the period of time when the wife's claim was pending. Until such time as the comp claim was adjudicated and plaintiff was deemed to be entitled to such a benefit, the insurance company had an obligation to make payments of survivor's loss benefits. If the plaintiff was subsequently awarded workers' compensation benefits, the amount of such an award (an offset against the survivor's benefits) could forthwith be repaid by the plaintiff to the insurance company.
5. Judge Fleming also ordered the defendant insurance company to pay statutory interest at the rate of twelve percent per annum under §3142 of the statute. The judge ruled that this amount is due "whether or not defendant acted in good faith in disputing the dependency status of the plaintiff and method to compute the payment."
