Rebecca Lynne deVente and Byron Keith Pyles, parents of minor Byron Trent Pyles deceased, appeal from the grant of summary judgment to Hannelore H. Flora, in Flora’s declaratory judgment action seeking adjudication of her right to pursue a wrongful death claim as guardian ad litem on behalf of the decedent’s child, Allison Trent Flora, born March 19, 2008, and mothered by Flora’s minor daughter. Discerning no error, we affirm. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 c. A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.1 So viewed, the record shows that Byron Trent Pyles “Byron T.” conceived a child out of wedlock with Heidi Flora Hannelore Flora’s daughter, as confirmed by later DNA testing.2 Before the child was born, Byron T. died intestate in October 2007 following an automobile crash with a municipal police officer. In January 2008 two months before the child’s birth, Flora filed an action against Byron T.’s parents, seeking declaratory judgment as to the then-unborn child’s rights, alleging that the child was Byron T.’s sole heir and potential wrongful death claimant. Byron T.’s parents answered, and, following Flora’s motion for summary judgment, Byron T.’s parents conceded Byron T.’s paternity and the child’s status as his sole heir. Byron T.’s parents then filed a cross-motion for summary judgment challenging the child’s exclusive right to pursue a wrongful death claim based on Byron T.’s death.
Following a hearing on October 2, 2008, the trial court granted Flora summary judgment as to Byron T.’s status as the father of the child, as to the child’s status as his heir, and as to the child’s right to bring a wrongful death claim based on Byron T.’s death. The court likewise denied Byron T.’s parents’ cross motion for summary judgment. They now appeal the ruling as to the child’s exclusive right to bring the wrongful death claim.
