Deadbeat dads have rights, too.
So says a New Jersey judge, who yesterday ruled that an absentee father from Staten Island is entitled to half his dead daughter’s estate – even though the dad never paid a penny of child support after abandoning the kid, and spent virtually no time caring for the severely disabled young woman while she was alive.
Jennifer Rogiers, 22, died in September from lifelong complications from a debilitating spinal-cord ailment, and left no will. Her father, Ruben Martinez, then sued the grieving mother for a stake of nearly $1 million that remained in a malpractice settlement used for their daughter’s care.
Martinez’s claim came down to what was essentially a simple question: What is a father?
While acknowledging that “biological relationships are not the exclusive determinant of parenthood,” Superior Court Judge Thomas Olivieri of Hudson County’s Chancery Division said, “Inheritance is not conditional on the behaviors of a parent.”
Jennifer’s devoted Weehawken mother – who in court papers called her former lover nothing more than a “biological donor” – was outraged.
“It’s not about the money,” said Rosa Rogiers, 46. “It’s about responsibilities.”
Moments earlier, the livid defendant confronted Martinez in the back of the courtroom and castigated him in two languages.
“Will you look at my face?” she demanded. “There’s a God up there, and you’re going to pay for it.”
Martinez’s lawyer pulled his client from the ugly scene as Rogiers’ friends and relatives spewed invectives at his back.
Outside the courtroom, Martinez defended the verdict – and his sorry record as a father.
“You don’t know half the story,” Martinez said. “I was there for my daughter. She [Rogiers] is a liar.”
Martinez’s stake in the remaining settlement money could be about $400,000, said Rogiers’ lawyer, Jeffrey Bloom.
Bloom appeared flabbergasted by the decision.
“I define a parent as one who takes care of a child, nurtures a child, supports a child,” Bloom said. “Mr. Martinez abandoned this child. As a result of his total lack of commitment, he should not be deemed a parent.”
Martinez said he planned to use the money to help put his other children through college.
Meanwhile, in addition to the inheritance ruling, the judge also handed Martinez another rich victory.
Rogiers had countersued Martinez for 22 years of back child support. The judge said the issue was now moot, since Jennifer is dead.
Martinez’s paternity in the estate case was never a question. In 1991 – two years after the malpractice settlement – Martinez secured a declaration from a New York family court that he was Jennifer’s father.
Neither was it a question that he never paid child support, though he claims he made offers, despite his own financial struggles, that were refused.
A breach birth in 1983 left Jennifer with a severe spinal-cord injury that kept her from walking, gave her breathing problems and required her to be fed through a tube.
Six years later, she was awarded $2.5 million in a settlement that was held in trust and used for her care. She died in November.
Rogiers did have one victory during the court proceeding: Olivieri ordered the company holding the trust fund to reimburse her for $300,000 in medical expenses.
She is urging a new law protecting malpractice settlements from deadbeat parents.
“Any man can make a child and come back and say, ‘Hello,’ ” Rogiers said. “I’m not going to accept that decision at all.”