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Benson v. Patterson

Dismissal of plaintiff's complaints for child support against deceased father's estate affirmed because child support orders entered during father's lifetime did not create an obligation on the part of his estate to continue support until the children reached majority.

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� 1 This is an appeal from an order of the orphan’s court of Dauphin County dismissing appellants’ complaints for support. For the following reasons, we affirm.

� 2 The facts of the case are not in dispute. The deceased, Wiley Stanley Patterson (“Father”), was the biological father of the two children involved in this matter, Wiley Stanley Patterson, Jr., (“Stanley”) born March 25, 1984, and Aaron Patterson, (“Aaron”) born September 10, 1991. Each child was born out of wedlock. Appellants Cheryl Benson and Leona C. Lewis (“Mothers”), the respective mothers of Stanley and Aaron, maintained custody of the children. On February 23, 1998, the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Section, entered an order of support directing Father to pay $55 per week in support of his son Stanley. *fn1 This sum included an amount for arrearages from the effective date of May 23, 1994. On September 4, 1998, the court ordered Father to pay $395.39 per month in child support for his son Aaron. *fn2 This sum also included an amount for arrearages from the effective date of October 7, 1993.

� 3 On August 1, 1999, Father died of cancer. Approximately one year before Father died, he was the recipient of a $2.5 million settlement in a personal injury action from an automobile accident. During his life, Father failed to make any of the court-ordered support payments. Shortly before his death, Father made a will which, after making a gift of $20,000 to Stanley and $1,000 to Aaron, left the residue of his estate to his sister and appointed her executrix. *fn3 Father’s gross estate as shown on his Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return is $1,099,534.21.

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