Rebound, Inc. v. Pugh

912 S.W.2d 660, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1843, 1995 WL 684378
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 14, 1995
DocketNos. WD 49687, WD 49735
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 912 S.W.2d 660 (Rebound, Inc. v. Pugh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rebound, Inc. v. Pugh, 912 S.W.2d 660, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1843, 1995 WL 684378 (Mo. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

SPINDEN, Judge.

Neither party is satisfied with the probate court’s decision concerning claims by Rebound, Inc.,1 against the estate of Barbara Bonner for medical services to Bonner and her infant son, Jeremy. The probate court cut Rebound’s claim for services to Bonner by about 42 percent and denied all of its claim for services to Jeremy. As to the claim for services to Bonner, we remand with instructions that the probate court clarify which of Bonner’s expenses it deemed unreasonable or medically unnecessary. As to the claim for services to Jeremy, we reverse and remand with instructions that the probate court enter an order granting Rebound expenses for such services as the court deems reasonable and medically necessary.

On December 31,1991, Bonner was admitted to a Warrensburg hospital for delivery of Jeremy, her first child. During delivery, Bonner and Jeremy suffered prolonged oxygen deprivation which resulted in severe brain damage to both. On February 10, 1992, Jeremy was admitted to Rebound. In the meantime, various hospitals treated Bonner until she also was admitted to Rebound on March 12,1992.

On July 13, 1992, the probate court of Johnson County declared Bonner to be totally incapacitated and disabled. The probate court appointed Lavema Pugh, Bonner’s mother, as guardian and conservator of Bonner’s estate.

On August 5, 1993, Rebound filed two claims with Bonner’s estate for the medical services it had rendered to Bonner and Jeremy. Rebound submitted a claim for $759,-782.91 for health care, rehabilitative services and treatment provided to Bonner from March 12, 1992, through June 30, 1993. It claimed $131,176.31 for the health care, rehabilitative services and treatment provided to Jeremy from February 10, 1992, through July 31, 1992, when he was released from Rebound. The probate court, after a hearing on the claims, granted Rebound only $436,-840 for services to Bonner and nothing for services to Jeremy.

In its appeal, Rebound asserts that the probate court abused its discretion by (1) denying its claim for services to Jeremy, (2) not granting all of its claim for services to Bonner, (3) excluding testimony of two of its witnesses, and (4) excluding from evidence Bonner’s answers to interrogatories. Bonner’s estate cross-appeals, contending that the probate court erred by (1) denying its [662]*662motion to dismiss Rebound’s claim as untimely filed, (2) admitting into evidence Rebound’s exhibits concerning its billings, (3) awarding Rebound $436,840 for services rendered to Bonner, and (4) granting a continuance to Rebound after the first day of hearing.

Medical Expenses of Barbara Bonner

Both parties complain that the probate court’s award for services to Bonner was against the weight of the evidence. Rebound asserts that the probate court should have given it all that it claimed. Bonner’s estate complains that the probate court awarded Rebound anything. Recovery for medical expenses requires proof that the services were necessary and reasonable. Green v. Hastings, 621 S.W.2d 549, 551 (Mo.App. 1981). Rebound asserts that the evidence established this, and the estate argues the contrary.

In its order, the probate court said:

[T]he court, having considered the pleadings, evidence and proof adduced, ... enters its findings and judgments as follows:
... With respect to the claim for health care and rehabilitative services and treatment provided to Barbara Bonner against the estate and determines that said claim should be allowed in the sum of ... $436,-840.00 ... as a class 4 claim.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the claim of Rebound, Inc., for health care and rehabilitative services and treatment provided to Barbara Bonner is hereby allowed against the estate in the sum of ... $436,-840.00 ... as a class 4 claim, to bear interest at the legal rate from this date, and for the costs of this claim.

The probate court considered the testimony of Jean A. Bailey, Rebound’s executive director, concerning the reasonableness of the charges and the testimony of Thomas J. McGuire, M.D., Rebound’s medical director, concerning the necessity for the services. The probate court also considered 63 pages of invoices and attachments2 and a document referred to as “Summary of Charges.” Each invoice appeared to be for the total charges for a month with additional pages attached giving an itemized listing of most, if not all, of those charges. Rebound’s claim was for over 15 months of services provided to Bonner.

In cutting the claim for services to Bonner by about 42 percent, the probate court’s order did not delineate which items it was denying. This makes our review virtually impossible. We are not suggesting that the probate court was wrong in giving Rebound only a part of its claim. We also recognize that, in cases in which the parties do not request findings of fact and conclusions of law, we are to view the evidence in a light most favorable to the probate court’s judgment. Rule 73.01(a)(3). In this case, however, we simply have no means of knowing which charges the probate court denied, and Rebound has difficulty articulating an appeal.

The invoices and attachments listed numerous charges, such as per diem charges, pharmacy, medical supplies, medical equipment, laboratory, x-ray, CT scan, respiratory services, EKG/ECG, OP services, other prescription services, nutritional services, ultrasound, and feedings. We can only guess which charges the probate court found reasonable and necessary and whether the court’s decision was against the weight of the evidence. Hence, we remand to the probate court to set out in its order which expenses it deemed to be unreasonable or unnecessary. We are not instructing the probate court to articulate in its order why it included or excluded portions of Rebound’s claims. We need the court only to delineate which items it excluded as unreasonable or unnecessary.

Bonner’s Obligation for Jeremy’s Necessaries

Rebound contends that the probate court erred in denying its claim against Bonner’s estate for health care, rehabilitative services and treatment provided to Jeremy. Rebound asserts that Bonner, as Jeremy’s mother, had a common law duty to support [663]*663her son; therefore, Bonner’s estate is liable for the child’s “necessaries.” The estate responds that the probate court properly denied this claim because Jeremy’s father had the primary common law duty to support his son and Rebound never sought reimbursement from the father.

Recent case law,3 amendments to the child support statutes,4 and enactment of the Uniform Parentage Act5 place in serious question the issue of whether this principle of common law has been abrogated. We need not resolve this issue, however, because the doctrine gave the father only the primary duty of support. Deardorff v. Bohannon, 761 S.W.2d 651, 655 (Mo.App.1988). Both parents have a duty to support their minor children. In Interest of R.AS., 826 S.W.2d 397, 399 (Mo.App.1992).

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Long v. Missouri Delta Medical Center
33 S.W.3d 629 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2000)
Estate of Bonner
954 S.W.2d 356 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1997)
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954 S.W.2d 356 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1997)
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Bluebook (online)
912 S.W.2d 660, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1843, 1995 WL 684378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rebound-inc-v-pugh-moctapp-1995.