J.d. Hofer, Petitioners v. Sharon Lavender, Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court held that under the Texas Survival Statute exemplary damages may be recovered from the estate of a deceased tortfeasor, and that the constitutional limitation on exemplary damages applies only to wrongful death actions, not to claims under the survival statute. The Court reversed the Court of Appeals, affirmed the trial court’s exemplary damage awards to the Hofers individually, and remanded for determination of excessiveness of the award to the estate of their deceased daughter.