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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    11

    Default Re: Defendant Died Prior to Complaint

    Sorry for the followup question. I will probably just drop the dead defendant and continue to search for whether his estate has been setup or not. Now it looks like I can drop a specific defendant per this rule by Notice of Dropping Party.
    http://phonl.com/fl_law/rules/frcp/frcp1250.htm 1.250 (b)
    With this rule.
    http://phonl.com/fl_law/rules/frcp/frcp1420.htm

    Question.
    1.) Just making sure I can use these rules to drop a specific defendant and not the whole case.
    2.) If yes, if the other defendants have not been served yet on the original complaint, and I want to file this Notice, how do I serve the defendants that have not been served with the original complaint yet? Should I just wait till they are served with the original complaint before moving the Notice?

    Thank you so much for the help. I have already had every strange thing happen during this process so far... adding one deceased defendant to the list. Your help and forum are a great resource, thanks again.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Key West, FL
    Posts
    2,350

    Default Re: Defendant Died Prior to Complaint

    Dropping a defendant would be the proper notice and this is different than a voluntary dismissal which should only be done when the entire case is being dismissed. However, there is certainly no hurry to do so. I would be concerned about getting all the other defendant's served. You can drop the deceased defendant at any time. I would give it some time to see if the estate is filed in probate, if there is an executor, etc. A big question is if he owned a home or other property. In FL a home, one with a homestead exemption, is protected against judgment, but that does not survive the death of the owner, for example.

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