Attorneys for the adult stepchildren of the wealthy widow who died after the former Bruce Jenner rear-ended her car have fired back at his claims their clients have no right to sue for wrongful death and that the case should be dismissed.
Jenner’s lawyers maintain Dana Redmond, 60, and William Howe, 57, were not financially dependent on 69-year-old victim Kim Howe before her Feb. 7 death on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. The lawyers maintain the pair had no legal standing to bring the case.
But in their lawsuit filed May 1 in Los Angeles Superior Court, the stepchildren say they were dependent on Kim Howe and have incurred bills as well as out-of-pocket damages and losses. In additional court papers filed Friday, lawyers for the plaintiffs state the 65-year-old Jenner is trying to escape liability for the woman’s death with his dismissal motion.
“Without any knowledge about the relationship between Ms. Howe and her stepchildren of more than 40 years, Mr. Jenner makes bald assertions about their relationship,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers state in their court papers. “Stepchildren can be just as much children to their parents.”
The Redmond-William Howe attorneys say they can bring more information if necessary to support their claim the stepchildren counted on the decedent financially.
“Plaintiffs are able to set forth a variety of facts to demonstrate that not only did they have a very real relationship with Ms. Howe during the 40 years that she was their stepmother, but that they relied on her at least to some extent, for some of the necessities of life,” according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys court papers.
The fact that family members live in different parts of the country does not prevent them from “having a real relationship or from being financially dependent upon one another,” according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys court papers.
Although the court papers on both sides refer to Jenner by his former identity, the ex-Olympian now wants to be referred to as Caitlyn Jenner.
A hearing on the dismissal motion is scheduled June 16 before Judge Teresa Beaudet.
