FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) – Fatherhood is much more than a $25 gift card, the Kentucky Court of Appeals has ruled.
The court on Feb. 5 rejected Lawrence Miller’s claim that he was entitled to settlement proceeds regarding his stillborn daughter, finding he’d abandoned her and her mother during the pregnancy.
The ruling affirms a Letcher County decision that Miller is not entitled to any money under what is known as “Mandy Jo’s Law.” He had tried to establish a relationship with the child and her mother by pointing at a $25 Walmart MoneyGram he sent Brittany Bunch for baby items. He also said he did not know he was the father until a DNA test.
“When Bunch discovered she was pregnant, she informed Miller who immediately left,” Judge Denise Clayton wrote. “He did not attend doctor’s appointments with her nor did he try to contact her.”
In May 2014, Bunch suffered complications and delivered a stillborn daughter, named Autumn Raine Bunch.
“Miller came to the hospital after Autumn was born and held her, but according to Bunch he was high,” Clayton wrote. “She told her father she wanted him to leave but Miller tried to return to Bunch’s room and was eventually removed by security. Miller did not attend or contribute to Autumn’s funeral.
Bunch and her boyfriend sued Appalachian Regional Healthcare, and Miller asked to intervene. It was established that Miller was likely the father and the boyfriend was dismissed from the case.
After settlement, Bunch sought to keep Miller from receiving a share of the funds under Mandy Jo’s Law – a 2000 law that limits a parent’s right to estate if he or she has abandoned the child.
“He contends he did not know he was the child’s father until DNA testing was performed,” Clayton wrote.
“If Miller did not strongly suspect he was the child’s father, his actions in sending Bunch the MoneyGram and going to the hospital after the child’s birth and holding her are inexplicable.
“The trial court found clear intent on Miller’s part to abandon the child as evidenced by his behavior in fleeing immediately after Bunch informed him she was pregnant and thereafter making no further contact.”