Rule 202.Real Party in Interest

Rule 202 answers whose name goes on the caption, and then softens the consequence of getting it wrong.

The rule, and who is excused from it

An action must be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest. Eight may sue in their own names without joining the person for whose benefit the action is brought: an executor, an administrator, a personal representative, a guardian, a bailee, a trustee of an express trust, a party with whom or in whose name a contract was made for another's benefit, and a party authorized by statute.

Where an Idaho statute so provides, an action for another's use or benefit must be brought in the name of the state of Idaho — which is how Title IV-D child support enforcement is captioned.

The cure

Section (c) is the operative protection. The court may not dismiss for failure to prosecute in the real party's name until, after an objection, a reasonable time has been allowed for that party to ratify, join, or be substituted. And once that happens, the action proceeds as if it had been originally commenced by the real party in interest — so the cure relates back and no limitations period is lost in the correction.

A real-party objection is therefore not a way to end a case. It is a way to require that the right person be brought in.