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In re Estate of Lunsford4/7/2005
ether Lunsford is nonetheless entitled to inherit from Candice because he was "deprived of the custody" of Candice by the 1985divorce judgment and "has substantially complied with all orders of the court requiring contribution to the support of the child." N.C.G.S. § 31A-2(2).
I.
Under the Intestate Succession Act, a parent may inherit from a deceased child if the child dies without a surviving spouse or lineal descendants. N.C.G.S. § 29-15(3) (2003). If both parents survive the child under such circumstances, the child's estate is divided equally between them. Id. Under N.C.G.S. § 31A-2, however, a parent who has "wilfully abandoned the care and maintenance of his or her child" is barred from inheriting any portion of the child's estate unless the parent meets one of two statutory exceptions. N.C.G.S. § 31A-2. Specifically, an abandoning parent may still inherit if (1) "the abandoning parent resumed its care and maintenance at least one year prior to the death of the child and continued the same until its death," or (2) " parent has been deprived of the custody of his or her child under an orderof a court of competent jurisdiction and the parent has substantially complied with all orders of the court requiring contribution to the support of the child." N.C.G.S. § 31A-2(1), (2). Our wrongful death statute mandates that wrongful death proceeds be distributed "as provided in the Intestate Succession Act," and they are therefore subject to N.C.G.S. § 31A-2. N.C.G.S. § 28A-18-2(a) (2003); Williford v. Williford, 288 N.C. 506, 508-09, 219 S.E.2d 220, 222 (1975).
We first address whether the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the trial court's determination that Lunsford wilfully abandoned the care and maintenance of Candice under the meaning of N.C.G.S. § 31A-2. Because neither party has assigned error to the trial court's findings of fact, our review is limited to Lunsford's contention that the trial court's findings of fact do not support its conclusion of law. See N.C. R. App. P. 10(a); see also Stephenson v. Bartlett, 357 N.C. 301, 309, 582 S.E.2d 247, 252 (2003); State v. Cooke, 306 N.C. 132, 134, 291 S.E.2d 618, 619 (1982).
For purposes of the Intestate Succession Act, parental abandonment has been defined as "'wil ful or intentional conduct on the part of the parent which evinces a settled purpose to forego all parental duties and relinquish all parental claims to the child.'" McKinney, 357 N.C. at 489, 586 S.E.2d at 263 (quoting Pratt v. Bishop, 257 N.C. 486, 501, 126 S.E.2d 597, 608 (1962)) (alteration in original). If a parent "'withholds his presence, his love, his care, the opportunity to display filial affection, and wil fully neglects to lend support andmaintenance,'" such parent is deemed to have relinquished all parental claims and to have abandoned the child. Id. at 489-90, 586 S.E.2d at 263 (alteration in original) (quoting Pratt, 257 N.C. at 501, 126 S.E.2d at 608). Abandonment has also been defined as "'wil ful neglect and refusal to perform the natural and legal obligations of parental care and support.'" Id. at 489, 586 S.E.2d at 263 (alteration in original) (quoting Pratt, 257 N.C. at 501, 126 S.E.2d at 608). "Wilful intent is an integral part of abandonment and this is a question of fact to be determined from the evidence." Pratt, 257 N.C. at 501, 126 S.E.2d at 608.
In the instant case, the trial court's findings of fact support its conclusion that Lunsford wilfully abandoned the care and maintenance of Candice under the meaning of N.C.G.S. § 31A-2. Even assuming that Candice refused to accept Lunsford's occasional offers of financial assistance, the trial court could reasonably have concluded that Lunsford's sporadic contacts with his
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