On Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:09:46 -0500, Warp wrote:

> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>> Person commits suicide
> 
>   He didn't, but even if he did, it wouldn't make any difference.

True, his estate would still be responsible for costs incurred.

>> It wasn't her fault she was injured
> 
>   It wasn't the fault of the relatives of the deceased that an accident
> happened. Why would it?

But it's not the relatives of the deceased that are being sued.  It's the 
estate, which is different.  It's what that person had in assets before 
it's disbursed to the heirs.

Just like if someone dies, there is normally some sort of settlement with 
their creditors before the estate is passed along to their heirs, as I 
understand it.  That way the heirs aren't responsible for any debt left 
(that isn't paid by insurance - for example, in our homeowner's policy, 
we have a clause that pays off the balance of the due mortgage in the 
event of our deaths so our son isn't stuck with having to come up with a 
way to make the payments, for example).

>   If someone accidentally falls off a cliff and smashes your car, are
>   you
> going to sue his relatives to pay up for the repairs? No, it was an
> accident. The relatives are in no way responsible for anything.

Actually, yeah, if someone falls off a cliff and smashes someone else's 
car, then the repair/replacement cost is borne by the person who causes 
the accident.

But that's not the relatives, that's the person who died paying for it.

>> and the medical expenses were presumably considerable
> 
>   Completely inconsequential. They could be a hundred billion of
>   dollars,
> and it would make no difference.

Sure, the amount really is immaterial, but in the event that it's a 
considerable expense, that's not an out of pocket expense when it was due 
to someone else's negligence, even if they did die in the event.

>> - so why should she have to pay for it out of pocket?
> 
>   Blame the healtcare system of the US.

Until the healthcare system in the US is fixed, this is how things get 
done.

I think the US is far too litigious, but this instance is not one of 
those cases.

Jim

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