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In re Estate of Kubiskey6/25/1999
FOR PUBLICATION June 25, 1999 9:55 a.m.
Respondent appeals as of right from a probate court order granting petitioner leave to distribute the proceeds of a wrongful death settlement. We affirm.
Matilda Kubiskey died intestate at West Shore Hospital on December 28, 1996, after medication intended for another patient was inadvertently administered to her. This case involves the distribution of the $143,000 proceeds of a wrongful death settlement resulting from the hospital's alleged medical malpractice. Petitioner Richard Kubiskey, son of the deceased, was appointed personal representative of the estate. On September 22, 1997, petitioner sought leave of the court to settle the wrongful death claim and to distribute the proceeds. The petition identified the persons who might be entitled to a share of the damages, including respondent, and set forth the relative shares that petitioner proposed be awarded to each. Petitioner proposed that $500 be awarded to each of the deceased's seven great-grandchildren, that $1000 be awarded to six of the deceased's grandchildren, and that the balance of the proceeds be divided equally between the deceased's three living children.
The deceased bore four children during her lifetime. Her eldest child, Carol Munson, died in 1976. Respondent Kim Munson is the daughter of Carol Munson and granddaughter of the deceased. Petitioner proposed that respondent receive no share of the proceeds of the wrongful death settlement. On October 3, 1997, respondent filed an affidavit with the probate court in which she requested that she be awarded twenty-five percent of the proceeds. In her affidavit, respondent explained that she left the City of Manistee for California in 1979 to pursue a career in the film industry. She kept in touch with the deceased (who gave her money on occasion) until 1983, when an argument severed their relationship. Because she had recently renewed a relationship with one of her cousins, respondent believed that she would also have renewed her relationship with her grandmother were it not for her grandmother's untimely death.
A hearing on the petition for leave to settle the wrongful death claim and distribute the proceeds was held on October 16, 1997. At the hearing, petitioner testified that he discussed the distribution of the proceeds at great length with his two surviving siblings. With regard to respondent's share, petitioner testified as follows:
Q: "And you've also indicated that one of the grandchildren, Kim Munson, is not to receive any money." A: "Yes." Q: "Since that is going to be a subject of contention here today, I ask that you explain this briefly to the Judge, why it is that you have decided on behalf of the estate and on behalf of the family not to give any money to Kim Munson?" A: "I believe it was my mother's wishes. She had no contact from 1983 when my father passed away. They had an argument. Kimmy wanted more money. My mother wouldn't send her any. That was the last she heard from her. There were no cards, no birthday cards, no Christmas cards, nothing. And, I know Kimmy was here in town over the years. She spent a month here but there was no contact." Q: "What's your basis for saying that you didn't think that your mother would want Kimmy to get any money?" A: "She didn't want Kimmy notified that she was in the hospital."
The deceased's sister-in-law also testified regarding the breakdown of the relationship between respondent and the deceased.
Respondent presented no evidence at the hearing. Instead, respondent's counsel moved to amend respondent's objection to the proposed distribution to request one-hundred percent of the proceeds. Relying on ยง 222(f) of t
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