Lepori v. Welch

MAXWELL, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Mississippi Code Annotated section 93-15-103 (Rev.2004) lists the circumstances when a court may terminate a parent’s rights in the best interest of the child. After her son Brandon Rathbone died in a work-related accident, Catherine LePori petitioned under section 93-15-103 to terminate the parental rights of Brandon’s biological father, Alton Welch, to prevent Welch from benefitting from the wrongful-death action she had filed. The chancery court dismissed the petition because: (1) section 93-15-103 is not applicable after a child dies; and (2) a petition to…