Cheryl BENSON, on Behalf of Wiley Stanley PATTERSON, Jr., a Minor, and Leona C. Lewis, on Behalf of Aaron Patterson, a Minor, Appellants v. Danita C. PATTERSON, Executrix of the Estate of Wiley Stanley Patterson, Deceased, Appellee
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
August 26, 2003
830 A.2d 966
Argued May 16, 2002.
I join the present disposition for the reasons set forth in my concurring opinion in Chalkey. See Chalkey, 569 Pa. at 472-74, 805 A.2d at 497-99 (Saylor, J., concurring). Respectfully, however, I remain of the belief that it would be better for the Court to recognize the consequences of a faithful application of Wickett‘s statutory construction analysis, and to reassess that decision in such light. See Chalkey, 569 Pa. at 473-74, 805 A.2d at 498-99 (Saylor, J., concurring).
James Harry Turner, Harrisburg, for Danita C. Patterson, appellee.
Before: ZAPPALA, C.J., CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR and EAKIN, JJ.
OPINION
Justice EAKIN.
Wiley Stanley Patterson fathered five children, two of whom were born out of wedlock; Wiley Stanley Patterson Jr., born to Cheryl Benson on March 25, 1984, and Aaron Patterson, born to Leona Lewis on September 10, 1991. Stanley and Aaron are in the custody of their mothers; while support orders were entered requiring him to pay child support for
Patterson was injured in an automobile collision, and received a $2.5 million settlement from a subsequent lawsuit. Soon afterward, Patterson made a will, making cash bequests to Stanley, Aaron, and his three other children. The residue of his estate was left to his sister, who was named executrix.
Patterson died of cancer August 1, 1999. The support orders were terminated; the estate satisfied all arrearages. The mothers of Stanley and Aaron filed an action in the Dauphin County Orphans’ Court,1 seeking continuation of support payments until their children reach the age of majority. In addition, the mothers sought an increase in the amount of support due to two changes in circumstances: Patterson‘s receipt of the personal injury settlement, and his death. Relying on Garney v. Estate of Hain, 439 Pa.Super. 42, 653 A.2d 21 (1995), the Orphans’ Court dismissed the complaints, finding no legal basis for imposing a duty of support on the estate of a deceased parent.
In Garney, a custodial parent disinherited three minor children and left his estate to his new wife. The mother with custody of the children filed for child support against the estate. The Superior Court held there was no statutory authority for imposing the duty of support upon the estate of the decedent. Id., at 22. Patterson‘s children attempt to distinguish Garney because there were support orders in place against Patterson before his death; they argue an obligation of support existed in this case that was not present in Garney. The Superior Court, however, found this created no significant distinction between the two cases, as a parent
Patterson‘s children urge us to apply principles of statutory law to impose a duty to support upon the estate;2 see generally
When presented with a request to expand a parent‘s duty of support in Blue v. Blue, 532 Pa. 521, 616 A.2d 628 (1992), this Court stated:
Under the Common Law, a parent had a duty to support a minor child. In its wisdom, our General Assembly has bestowed adulthood on minor children at age 18. Conse-
quently, the common law duty to support a minor child must by necessity cease at age 18.... Accordingly, since no legal duty has been imposed by our legislature, nor have we developed such a duty by our case law, we decline to do so. Since our legislature has taken an active role in domestic matters through amendments and reenactment of the Divorce Code and the Domestic Relations Act, we feel the more prudent course is to await guidance from that body rather than creating duties and obligations by judicial pronouncement.
We apply the same reasoning to the case at bar. A child‘s needs do not end when a parent dies, but as sympathetic a fact as this may be, there are other considerations in the law, and it is clear we must defer to the legislature, which has taken an active role in developing the domestic relations law of Pennsylvania. Garney was decided in 1995. The General Assembly could have responded to the holding in Garney, (as it did in Blue), by amending the domestic relations and estate statutes; it has not done so, and it is not the role of the judiciary to legislate changes the legislature has declined to adopt.
Patterson‘s children point to a number of states that require the estate of a parent to satisfy child support obligations. We have extensively reviewed the laws of our sister states and find the majority of jurisdictions have held, in the absence of a contract or an express provision in a judicial decree (e.g., divorce decree, child support order), that the duty to support minor children ends at death. See Pittman v. Pittman, 419 So.2d 1376, 1381 (Ala.1982) (child support payments are not vested rights; instead, they provide periodic allowances until terminated); Flagler v. Flagler, 94 So.2d 592, 594 (Fla.1957) (en banc) (only legislature has authority to enact laws imposing such a duty); Foskey v. Foskey, 257 Ga. 736, 363 S.E.2d 547, 548 (1988) (periodic payment of alimony and child support terminates at death of obligor); In re Estate of Sweeney, 210 Kan. 216, 500 P.2d 56, 67 (1972) (separation agreement must expressly state duty survives death of obligor); Bowling v. Robinson, 332 S.W.2d 285, 287 (Ky.1960) (death of obligor
Some states have found circumstances where the estate of a deceased parent may be ordered to pay support for a child. See Newman v. Burwell, 216 Cal. 608, 15 P.2d 511, 513 (1932) (obligation to support minor children fixed by property settle-
Despite the allure of the minority position, there is soundness in the majority as well, and we are guided by hundreds of years of Pennsylvania precedent instructing that a child is owed no support from a dead parent. Accordingly, we remain with the majority of states that do not extend the duty of
Order affirmed.
Former Chief Justice ZAPPALA did not participate in the decision of this case.
Chief Justice CAPPY files a concurring opinion in which Justice NIGRO joins.
Justice NEWMAN files a dissenting opinion.
Chief Justice CAPPY concurring.
I join the majority opinion insofar as it holds that this court has chosen to await guidance from the General Assembly with regard to imposing a duty upon the estate of a deceased parent to continue child support in these circumstances, rather than create a duty by judicial pronouncement. See Blue v. Blue, 532 Pa. 521, 616 A.2d 628, 632 (1992).
Justice NIGRO joins this concurring opinion.
Justice NEWMAN dissenting.
I disagree with the conclusion of the Majority that the obligation to comply with a child support order terminates upon the death of the parent. For the reasons set forth in this Opinion, I respectfully dissent.
I believe that the Majority improperly relies upon the Superior Court‘s decision in Garney v. Estate of Hain, 439 Pa.Super. 42, 653 A.2d 21 (1995), appeal denied, 541 Pa. 626, 661 A.2d 873 (1995), to support its conclusion that Appellants are not entitled to receive support for their minor children. In Garney, there was neither a court order nor an agreement for support of the decedent‘s three children. Where there is an existing support order, as in the instant matter, I believe it is appropriate to look for guidance to the case law of this Court regarding situations where there is a support agreement in place at the time of the obligor‘s death. In Stumpf‘s Appeal, 116 Pa. 33, 8 A. 866 (1887), Dr. Ludwig Fletje (Dr.
In Huffman v. Huffman, 311 Pa. 123, 166 A. 570 (1933), husband and wife agreed to live separate and apart, and husband agreed to provide wife with support of $30.00 per month for each of their two minor children until they became “self-supporting.” Wife obtained a divorce from husband, and husband remarried. He subsequently died, leaving a will in which he bequeathed his estate to his second wife, who was appointed administratrix. When the children‘s mother demanded support payments from the administratrix, she refused, thus leading to a lawsuit. The Court of Common Pleas of Erie County held that the agreement was not binding upon the estate. The Superior Court affirmed, but this Court reversed based upon the holding of Stumpf‘s Appeal.
Estate of Fessman, 386 Pa. 447, 126 A.2d 676 (1956), presented this Court with a similar situation. In 1949, wife gave birth to a child and, shortly thereafter, she filed a divorce complaint against husband. In January of 1951, the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County directed husband to pay wife $140.00 per month as alimony pendente lite. Six months later he executed a will in which he left his residuary estate to his parents and another individual. On July 15, 1952, husband wrote a letter to counsel for wife stating that he would pay wife $100.00 per month for the support of the parties’ son. The
In the aforementioned cases involving written agreements, the Court has not hesitated to find that parents expected the support of their children to be an obligation of their estates. When a support order is in place at the time of the death of a parent, it must be enforceable against an estate. A support order is a judicially imposed obligation to provide a specific amount of support calculated pursuant to the Rules of Civil Procedure, which are promulgated to effectuate the goals of the Domestic Relations Code. Once a support order is entered, I believe that it should be treated like any other obligation, and the minor child should be able to make a claim against the estate of the payor as would any other creditor. Confronted with the option of analogizing a support order to a support agreement, see Estate of Fessman; Huffman, and Stumpf‘s Appeal, or to a situation where there is no support agreement, see Garney, the former is the wiser and more equitable choice. Accordingly, I would refuse to extend Garney to the instant matter, and would reverse the decision of the Superior Court.
Section 4321(2) of the Domestic Relations Code,
While courts always had the power to direct wage attachments, current law makes attachment of income routine, rather than elective.
23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4348 . In addition to regular support payments, a parent may also be ordered to pay a portion of the child‘s medical expenses.23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4326 . The legislature has provided for the collection of support payments from a parent who resides outside of the Commonwealth by enacting The Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act which provides for the extradition of a parent back to the state where that parent has been charged criminally for failing to comply with a child support order.23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4501 et seq. Also, a recently enacted statute directs licensing agencies or authorities, upon a court‘s Order, to deny the issuance, or renewal of a license to engage in a “profession, trade or business” where a parent has failed to make support payments.23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4355 . Most interestingly for our purposes, entireties property can be used to enforce a support obligation against a spouse.23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4361 et seq. Even lottery winnings are subject to use for payment of support orders.23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4308 . These statutes establish that the law has become increasingly forceful in its efforts to provide for the support of minor children.
Id. at 22-23 (Del Sole, J., dissenting). As further evidence of legislative intent, Appellants note that support obligations constitute a judgment against the obligor with the full force,
If the analogy between a support order and an agreement is insufficient to distinguish the instant matter from Garney, then a more comprehensive approach may be required. We recognize that, in dicta, this Court stated in Estate of Fessman, 126 A.2d at 678, “[w]e have not overlooked the principles of law advanced by Petitioner that a father, in the absence of a contract, has no legal obligation to support his children after his death, and is under no legal obligation to leave his children anything by will.” Pursuant to the common law, death terminates the responsibility to support one‘s children. Appellants argue that much has changed since the development of such rule, noting that at early common law, children were under the complete control of their father, and that in the rare case of divorce, children were placed in their father‘s custody. In this situation it was highly unlikely that a father would disinherit his minor child. However, once it became common for children to be placed in the custody of their mother following divorce, the possibility that a father would disinherit his children became more likely. The prevalence of divorce and the number of families with unwed parents living in separate households also increased the possibility of parents failing to provide for their minor children in the event of a parent‘s death. Importantly, Appellants do not seek to impinge on the testamentary freedom of the decedent. Rather, they seek recognition of the right of minor children to obtain support from the estate of a deceased parent, thus placing minor children on the same footing as any other creditor. Such recognition would require that we change the common law.
In recognition of the importance that society places on the obligation of parents to support their children, Appellants
This Court has full authority, and the corresponding duty, to examine its precedents to assure that a rule previously developed is not perpetuated when the reason for the rule no longer exists and when application of the rule would cause injustice. On previous occasions, this Court has not hesitated to reconsider precedent in light of current social conditions and public policy.
Id. at 867. Hack relied upon numerous decisions where this Court changed the common law, including Soffer v. Beech, 487 Pa. 255, 409 A.2d 337 (1979) (abandoning common law rule that actual possession is prerequisite to an action in ejectment); Estate of Grossman, 486 Pa. 460, 406 A.2d 726 (1979) (abandoning per se rule disqualifying testimony of the spouse of a surviving interested party to a transaction with a decedent); Falco v. Pados, 444 Pa. 372, 282 A.2d 351 (1971) (abrogating parental immunity); Griffith v. United Air Lines, 416 Pa. 1, 203 A.2d 796 (1964) (rejecting lex loci conflicts of law rule). Because I believe that the instant matter can be resolved by making an estate responsible for a support order that existed at the time of the obligor‘s death, I would not use this case as the vehicle by which to impose a general obligation of child support on the estate of all parents of minor children. Nevertheless, presented with the appropriate set of facts, I would not summarily reject a call to this Court to abandon a rule of law that allows a parent to leave a minor child in a state of penury while bestowing his or her bounty upon others. Effecting such a change to the common law would overrule the decision of the Superior Court in Garney, which the majority relies on in this case. Because I have serious doubts regarding the soundness of Garney, where the court refused to find a support obligation in the absence of a specific legislative directive, I believe that a reexamination of this issue would be welcome. In light of the existing statutory
Therefore, I would reverse the decision of the Superior Court and remand the matter to the Orphans’ Court to enter an appropriate award of support against the Estate of Wiley Stanley Patterson. I would direct the court‘s attention to