Rule 2204.Averments in plaintiff’s pleading.

A wrongful-death complaint must show who the recovery is for. In addition to all other facts that must be pleaded, the plaintiff’s initial pleading states the plaintiff’s relationship to the decedent and the plaintiff’s right to bring the action. It also gives the names and last known residence addresses of all persons entitled by law to recover damages, their relationship to the decedent, and a statement that the action was brought on their behalf.

Those averments put the beneficiaries on the record and do work elsewhere in the chapter. The plaintiff must notify each person entitled to damages under Rule 2205. In an action under Pennsylvania law, a beneficiary may seek to remove the plaintiff under Rule 2203, and the plaintiff’s right to sue comes from Rule 2202: the personal representative, or, after six months without an action, a person entitled to damages as trustee ad litem.

Under Rule 2201, this rule reaches actions arising under the laws of Pennsylvania or any other jurisdiction, so a complaint on a foreign wrongful-death claim must include the same averments. For those claims Rule 2207 decides who may sue.