A-18-177, In re Estate of Brown-Elliott
Douglas County Probate Court, Judge Jeffrey L. Marcuzzo
Attorney for Appellant: Loretta D. Collins (Collins Law Office)
Attorney for Appellee: James Martin Davis (Davis Law Office)
Civil: Probate; settlement division
Action Taken by Trial Court: The probate court approved a wrongful death settlement between the relevant parties. Following further hearing regarding the division of the award, the court awarded 2/3 of the settlement to the deceased child’s mother (the Appellee) and 1/3 of the settlement to counsel for his fees. The court awarded nothing to the deceased child’s father (the Appellant).
Assignments of Error on Appeal: Appellant alleges, restated, that the probate court erred by (1) arbitrarily and capriciously awarding the wrongful death award proceeds entirely to the Appellee, to the Appellant’s exclusion; (2) failing to find the Appellee had substantially interfered with the Appellant’s right to a parent-child relationship; and (3) failing to find that the Appellant exhibited unclean hands.