Estranged daughter sues father's estate for college tuition
Dec 22, 2016OUTCOME: Filed, argued, and won a motion for Summary Disposition on the grounds that an ex parte default judgment of divorce cannot possibly amount to a contract.
In 1977, a Default Judgment of Divorce (JOD) was entered between the Decedent and his ex-wife in Illinois. The JOD provided that there were 2 children born to the parties during the marriage. The JOD a ... lso provided that the wife was awarded the care, custody, control and education of the children and Decedent was awarded rights of reasonable visitation with the children. The JOD further provided that Decedent was to pay for the college education expenses of the children such as tuition, books, supplies, room and board, etc. And that his obligation was conditioned upon (a.) The child has at that time the desire or aptitude for a college education. (b.) The college education is limited to four consecutive years after graduation from high school, except the time shall be extended in the case of serious illness. (c.) Defendant has the financial ability to pay such college expenses. From 1977 through 1983, Decedent faithfully paid child support to his ex-wife. In or around 1983, Decedent's ex-wife took the children out of state to an undisclosed location. Decedent attempted to find his children; even spending thousands of dollars on private investigators. In 2008, Decedent’s son, contacted Decedent and began a father/son relationship with him. However, despite diligent attempts, Decedent never saw nor spoke with his daughter after 1983 and she never contacted him. On or about December 29, 1984, Decedent got remarried and remained married until he passed away suddenly from a massive heart attack in 2012. At some point before his death, Decedent set up transfer-on-death designations on all his financial accounts so that his entire estate would pass to his wife free from probate. All of Decedent’s real property was titled in his name and his wife’s name as husband and wife. Upon his death, all of Decedent’s real property passed to his wife by right of survivorship. In early 2015, a woman claiming to be Decedent's long lost daughter petitioned the Oakland County Probate Court to open an estate for Decedent and appoint a Public Administrator as Personal Representative and the petition was granted. Decedent's daughter then filed a Statement and Proof of Claim against the estate, seeking reimbursement for her college education expenses. The Personal Representative disallowed the claim because there was no money in the probate estate. Decedent's daughter then sued the estate under a theory that the Ex Parte Default Judgment of Divorce amounted to a contract under which she was a third-party beneficiary.
