Garlikov v. Continental Casualty Co.

OPINIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO
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Lehmkuhl, Admr., Appellant, v. Owners Insurance Company,
Appellee.
[Cite as Lehmkuhl v. Owners Ins. Co. (1993), Ohio St. 3d
.]
Insurance -- Underinsured motorist coverage -- Wrongful death
claim -- Each person entitled to recover under R.C.
2125.02 has separate claim subject to any per accident
limit -- Insurers may contractually preclude intrafamily
stacking but may not contractually preclude interfamily
stacking -- Underinsurance claim must be paid, when --
Each person who is covered by an uninsured/underinsured
policy has a separate claim subject to a per person policy
limit.
(No. 93-577 -- Submitted November 10, 1993 -- Decided
December 29, 1993.)
Appeal from the Court of Appeals for Clermont County, No.
CA92-06-072.
Peeler, McGary & Zopff, Robert W. Peeler and Carolyn A.
Potter, for appellant.
Freund, Freeze & Arnold and Gordon D. Arnold; and Thomas
B. Bruns, for appellee.
Pursuant to Savoie v. Grange Mut. Ins. Co. (1993),
Ohio St. 3d 67, 500 N.E.2d , the judgment of the Court of
Appeals for Clermont County is reversed.
A.W. Sweeney, Douglas, Resnick, F.E. Sweeney and Pfeifer,
JJ., concur.
Moyer, C.J., concurs separately.
Wright, J., dissents.
Moyer, C.J., concurring separately. I concur separately
in the judgment entry in the above-styled case. As my dissent
in Savoie v. Grange Mut. Ins. Co. (1993), 67 Ohio St.3d
500, N.E.2d , stated, I do not agree with the law
announced in the majority decision. Nevertheless, it is the
law on the issue in the above-styled case. As I believe all
parties should receive equal application of the law announced
by this court, and only for that reason, I concur in the
judgment entry.
Wright, J., dissenting. I must dissent in continuing
protest to the majority's sundry holdings in Savoie v. Grange
Mut. Ins. Co. (1993), 67 Ohio St.3d 500, 620 N.E.2d 809. As
stated in the dissent in Savoie, that holding lacks sound
reasoning, reverses ten years of established case law and
flaunts the will of the General Assembly. Thus, I feel
compelled to remain in this posture until the General Assembly
has had the opportunity to undo the damage caused to the public
by this unfortunate, result-oriented decision.