This case illustrates the difficulties faced by courts when confronted with the conflict between social policy and the law’s goal of giving legal effect to the desires of a person as expressed in their will or trust.
This case illustrates the difficulties faced by courts when confronted with the conflict between social policy and the law’s goal of giving legal effect to the desires of a person as expressed in their will or trust.
Can a Parent Inherit from a Child Whom the Parent Did Not Support? An infant was born severely handicapped as a result of medical malpractice by doctors at birth. The doctors were sued and a judgment was entered against them for almost three million dollars, the bulk of which was placed in a trust for the child’s benefit. The child died on September 2, 2005. The child’s mother took care of her throughout her life and received funds from the trust to attend to the child’s needs. After the child’s death, her biological father sought half of the balance remaining in the trust under their state’s intestacy laws. The child’s mother argued that the father didn’t contribute to the child’s support during her life, and owed unpaid child support, and therefore shouldn’t be entitled to half of the remaining funds in the trust. Further, the child’s mother claimed that even […]
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