§ 9-11-25.Substitution of parties

When a party dies mid-case and the claim survives, any party or the deceased’s successors or representative can move for substitution, served on parties the way other papers are served and on nonparties the way a summons is served. The clock that matters is not the date of death — it’s the date the death is suggested on the record through service of a statement of that fact. Miss the 180-day window measured from that suggestion, and the action is dismissed as to the deceased party. Where several plaintiffs or defendants are involved and the right at issue survives only to the living ones, the case doesn’t abate at all; the death is noted on the record, and the action continues in favor of, or against, the surviving parties.

Incompetency and transfers of interest get similar treatment. If a party becomes incompetent, the court may allow the action to continue by or against a representative on motion, served the same way as a death-substitution motion. If an interest in the case changes hands, the action can keep going in the name of the original party unless the court, on motion, orders the transferee substituted in or joined — again using the same service procedure.

Public officers sued in their official capacity get an automatic mechanism: if the officer dies, resigns, or otherwise leaves office while the case is pending, the action doesn’t abate, and the successor steps in automatically. A misnomer in the caption doesn’t undo that substitution, and the court doesn’t even need to enter a formal order for it to take effect. A public officer can be identified by official title rather than by name in the case caption, though the court may require the name to be added too.