[WSBAPT] Unborn child, death of potential father

Thu Apr 1 16:06:59 PDT 2021

Eric, that was quite helpful.  Here is FAQ from King County Prosecutor Paternity Unit:

FAQ:  The father of my child is deceased. Can I still get paternity established?  If the father has passed away, the Family Support Division cannot file a court action to establish paternity. Any lawsuit against a deceased person must be filed
            against the deceased person's personal representative as part of a probate action. Our office does not handle probate actions.  In some very limited circumstances, we may be able to help get genetic testing done so that the child can get
            social security death benefits, if otherwise eligible. If the father of a child has recently passed away and you are interested in genetic testing, call our office:  Seattle: 206-296-9020, Kent: 206-296-9595
            https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/prosecutor/child-support/paternity-unit.aspx

Dalynne Singleton
Gourley Law Group
Snohomish Escrow
The Exchange Connection
1002 10th Street / PO Box 1091
Snohomish, WA 98291
360.568.5065
360.568.8092  fax
dalynne at glgmail.com<mailto:dalynne at glgmail.com>
Website:  www.glglawgroup.com

As we face the challenges presented by COVID-19, we have limited staffing in the office to maintain critical functions. Attorney/client meetings will be handled by teleconference or virtually whenever possible.  Be assured that we will continue to advise & support our clients throughout this health emergency.  If you would like to set a telephone conference, please call or email my paralegal theresa at glgmail.com<mailto:theresa at glgmail.com> or dara at glgmail.com<mailto:dara at glgmail.com>.

Please be advised, we are requiring all clients with scheduled appointments coming in, as well as our staff, to be prepared to wear a face mask or adequate covering during all in office interactions.

LICENSED IN WASHINGTON AND OREGON
IMPORTANT/CONFIDENTIAL: This e-mail message (and any attachments accompanying it) may contain confidential information, including information protected by attorney-client privilege. The information is intended only for the use of the intended recipient(s).  Delivery of this message to anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is not intended to waive any privilege or otherwise detract from the confidentiality of the message.  If you are not the intended recipient, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, do not read, disclose, reproduce, distribute, disseminate or otherwise use this transmission, rather, please promptly notify the sender by reply e-mail, and then destroy all copies of the message and its attachments, if any.
[cid:image001.png at 01D72711.0B171B70]  [Rated by Super Lawyers] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.superlawyers.com_redir-3Fr-3Dhttp-3A__www.superlawyers.com_washington_lawyer_Gary-2DManca_ca059d21-2D1b6e-2D4fca-2Db396-2D80c253f82402.html-26c-3Demail-5FSmall-5Fbadge-26i-3Dca059d21-2D1b6e-2D4fca-2Db396-2D80c253f82402&d=DwMGaQ&c=4VfW4Y7UDKzr0jHM1Tk29w&r=wJy-5dBh2e8cdp8KTDyWsjq7WPfG_HRNpImWO5yfs2A&m=FCmO2jSMMhwxfYb-8WN5A3L-M6GKeJ_8gc6cS3vECHM&s=z2j9M4GPJAL7pempIOe0TGAPkMWrzXJSlY1lyMRDlRg&e=>        [cid:image003.jpg at 01D72711.0B171B70]  [No alt text provided for this image]

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Eric Nelsen
Sent: Thursday, April 1, 2021 3:49 PM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Unborn child, death of potential father

Paternity establishment, even with a deceased parent, is still under the Uniform Parentage Act, Ch. 26.26A RCW<https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=26.26A&full=true>, which has provisions to decide whether or not to require genetic testing of a deceased individual or decedent's relatives if necessary. There are presumptions and procedures involved, unsurprisingly. Due process and all. Also see FAQ with the King County Prosecutor Paternity Unit<https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/prosecutor/child-support/paternity-unit.aspx>; they won't pursue paternity when father is deceased but it can still be done privately.

As for PR's duty in this circumstance: I think that is a tough call. PR has a duty to ascertain proper heirs/beneficiaries, but I don't know if that duty necessarily (or ever) extends to the point of actually filing an action to establish paternity. It may be a "facts and circumstances" kind of matter where you don't know if you did wrong or right until the Court of Appeals tells you.

My gut says the PR should look at the circumstances-if it's likely he was the father, I would be cautious about simply shoving the responsibility onto the mother. But if it's merely plausible or is unlikely, there might be more reason to force the burden on the mother to proceed.

Best protection would be to petition the court for instructions: make the judge decide whether or not the estate should be required to pursue a paternity action. That would be the most effective means of protecting the PR from a potential breach of fiduciary duty due to a conflict of interest.

That is a very interesting scenario.

Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen
Sayre Law Offices, PLLC
1417 31st Ave South
Seattle WA 98144-3909
206-625-0092
eric at sayrelawoffices.com<mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>

Covid-19 Update - All attorneys are working remotely during regular business hours and are available via email and by phone. Videoconferencing also is available. Signing of estate planning documents can be completed and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Please direct mail and deliveries to the Seattle office.

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> On Behalf Of Dalynne Singleton
Sent: Thursday, April 1, 2021 3:24 PM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Unborn child, death of potential father

I have a wrongful death case in which I appointed the mother of the deceased grown adult son as Administrator.  She is attempting settlement with the insurer on the wrongful death claims.
A baby was born after her son's death and she does not know if it is her son's baby.  The baby's mother is claiming it is the baby of the deceased son.

  1.  How is paternity established for a newborn when the purported father is dead?
  2.  Once the PR settles for what we surmise will be policy limits, is she obligated to find out if the baby is her son's or is that burden on the mother of the baby?
  3.  He had no children upon his death so any WD will be to the parents at this time.

Dalynne Singleton
Gourley Law Group
Snohomish Escrow
The Exchange Connection
1002 10th Street / PO Box 1091
Snohomish, WA 98291
360.568.5065
360.568.8092  fax
dalynne at glgmail.com<mailto:dalynne at glgmail.com>
Website:  www.glglawgroup.com<http://www.glglawgroup.com>

As we face the challenges presented by COVID-19, we have limited staffing in the office to maintain critical functions. Attorney/client meetings will be handled by teleconference or virtually whenever possible.  Be assured that we will continue to advise & support our clients throughout this health emergency.  If you would like to set a telephone conference, please call or email my paralegal theresa at glgmail.com<mailto:theresa at glgmail.com> or dara at glgmail.com<mailto:dara at glgmail.com>.

Please be advised, we are requiring all clients with scheduled appointments coming in, as well as our staff, to be prepared to wear a face mask or adequate covering during all in office interactions.

LICENSED IN WASHINGTON AND OREGON
IMPORTANT/CONFIDENTIAL: This e-mail message (and any attachments accompanying it) may contain confidential information, including information protected by attorney-client privilege. The information is intended only for the use of the intended recipient(s).  Delivery of this message to anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is not intended to waive any privilege or otherwise detract from the confidentiality of the message.  If you are not the intended recipient, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, do not read, disclose, reproduce, distribute, disseminate or otherwise use this transmission, rather, please promptly notify the sender by reply e-mail, and then destroy all copies of the message and its attachments, if any.
[cid:image001.png at 01D72711.0B171B70]  [Rated by Super Lawyers] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.superlawyers.com_redir-3Fr-3Dhttp-3A__www.superlawyers.com_washington_lawyer_Gary-2DManca_ca059d21-2D1b6e-2D4fca-2Db396-2D80c253f82402.html-26c-3Demail-5FSmall-5Fbadge-26i-3Dca059d21-2D1b6e-2D4fca-2Db396-2D80c253f82402&d=DwMGaQ&c=4VfW4Y7UDKzr0jHM1Tk29w&r=wJy-5dBh2e8cdp8KTDyWsjq7WPfG_HRNpImWO5yfs2A&m=FCmO2jSMMhwxfYb-8WN5A3L-M6GKeJ_8gc6cS3vECHM&s=z2j9M4GPJAL7pempIOe0TGAPkMWrzXJSlY1lyMRDlRg&e=>        [cid:image003.jpg at 01D72711.0B171B70]  [No alt text provided for this image]

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20210401/d9fa35f1/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 5410 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20210401/d9fa35f1/image001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1524 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20210401/d9fa35f1/image002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 32954 bytes
Desc: image003.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20210401/d9fa35f1/image003.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 25680 bytes
Desc: image004.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20210401/d9fa35f1/image004.jpg>