Estate of Lillian Love Ballard v. Genesee Pediatric Pc, 344474

Five-year-old Lillian died in 2013 from an anaphylactic reaction after ingesting a milk-containing product at a pediatric clinic.
Donnert was appointed personal representative of Lillian’s estate and sued for wrongful death; the estate settled confidentially with Genesee Pediatric in May 2018.
Donnert’s proposed court-approved distribution allocated the majority of net proceeds to her and only $4,000 to Lillian’s father, Scott Ballard.
Ballard, who had been intermittently involved in Lillian’s life (military service, some visits, provided military medical insurance), objected as an interested party and requested one-half of the net settlement.
The trial court held an evidentiary hearing, found Ballard’s involvement minimal over most of Lillian’s life, increased his share to $12,000 (from $4,000), and approved the remainder to Donnert.
Ballard appealed the distribution; the Court of Appeals reviewed for clear error and affirmed the $12,000 award.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Donnert)	Defendant's Argument (Ballard)	Held
Whether the trial court’s allocation of wrongful-death settlement proceeds was fair and equitable	The proposed distribution reflected the relative losses and Donnert’s primary caretaking role; $4,000 to Ballard was appropriate given his limited involvement	Ballard sought one-half of net proceeds, arguing he suffered loss of companionship and had a close relationship with Lillian	Trial court did not clearly err; it increased Ballard’s share to $12,000 but rejected his one-half demand as unsupported by the record

Reed v. Breton, 279 Mich. App. 239 (2008) (trial court must hold a hearing and approve wrongful-death settlement distribution)
In re Claim of Carr, 189 Mich. App. 234 (1991) (no precise formula for loss-of-companionship awards; measure relationship by objective behavior and time shared)
McTaggart v. Lindsey, 202 Mich. App. 612 (1993) (assessing the nature of claimant–decedent relationship for wrongful-death damages)
Landin v. Healthsource Saginaw, Inc., 305 Mich. App. 519 (2014) (credibility and factual findings on damages are for the factfinder)