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4563 An heir who is named as a nominal defendant in a wrongful death action brought by another heir, by way of a complaint that identifies the nominal defendant as an heir at law but does not state the reason for joinder and was not served on the nominal defendant, is not a party to the action and not bound by a settlement entered by the plaintiff; a defendant receiving such a complaint is on notice that there is a missing heir and has the burden to determine whether the missing heir properly has been joined as a party; by settling with the plaintiff while on notice that an heir is missing but has not been made a party, defendant waives protection of the one-action rule and may subsequently be sued for wrongful death by the missing heir.CitationROMERO v PG&E (Missing Father) 156 CA4 211 [See: CCP 377.60, 382: Gonzales v SoCal Edison 77 CA4 485, T/AT 2/00]
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