A Mom Is Trying To Have Her Daughter's Marriage Invalidated After She Died On Her Wedding Night
Lisa Miller is trying to take control of her daughter Samantha's estate from her former son-in-law Aric Hutchinson. But the law is not on her side.
Nopparat Nambunyen / Shutterstock.com The tragic story of a South Carolina bride who died on her wedding night has taken a shocking turn after her mother decided to take legal action against her late daughter's husband of just hours.
After her daughter Samantha died on her wedding night, Lisa Miller is trying to have her marriage to Aric Hutchinson invalidated.
Samantha and Aric's story made national news earlier this year after their wedding ended in the most tragic way possible. After exchanging vows on Folly Beach, South Carolina in April 2023, Samantha was tragically killed by a drunk driver.
As the couple made their way to a nearby Airbnb in a golf cart, motorist Jamie Komoroski struck the couple with her Toyota Camry after becoming intoxicated in local bars. Samantha was killed, two wedding guests were injured, and Hutchinson suffered a traumatic brain injury in addition to broken bones.
Miller is now trying to have the marriage invalidated so she can control her daughter's estate.
As if this story weren't tragic enough, it's now taken a bizarre turn. Samantha's mother Lisa Miller is alleged to have made multiple attempts to intimidate Hutchinson and has threatened to have the pair's marriage legally invalidated to get her daughter's estate placed under her control.
Miller has based her threats on the claim that her daughter and Hutchinson were never legally married because they never cohabitated as husband and wife. But in a legal filing in response to Miller's threats, Hutchinson's attorney Patrick Wooten said South Carolina law is "crystal clear" that Miller's justification is nonsense.
"There is no cohabitation requirement for a valid marriage in South Carolina," the filing reads, adding that "Lisa Miller has no standing to challenge the validity of Sam and Aric’s marriage on this basis (or any other basis) because, under South Carolina law, as in most states, a voidable marriage may not be challenged after the death of one of the spouses."
Hutchinson is likely to receive multiple settlements due to his wife's death, and it's believed Miller is attempting to gain access to these settlements.
Legal filings by Hutchinson and his attorneys say Miller began having her lawyers level legal threats at him less than two weeks after Samantha's death, which included Miller's intent to have the marriage invalidated.
These threats came after Miller requested, via her legal representation, a meeting with Hutchinson's lawyers to discuss the two legal teams serving as co-counsel in a wrongful death suit Hutchinson has filed.
Hutchinson's lawyer believes Miller's legal threats are efforts to gum up the works of the distribution of that forthcoming settlement.
An October 31 hearing, held to finalize potential settlements resulting from other lawsuits Hutchinson has brought against the bars that overserved Komoroski, has resulted in further legal threats from Miller.
In response, Hutchinson and his attorneys have accused Miller of "filing baseless motions in hopes of pressuring Aric into paying her money to which she has no legal right." They maintain that Miller's claims are "legally baseless."
The story has left people online deeply shocked.
In a tweet, one man called the situation "obscenely cruel," while a TikToker called the story "sickening." Of course, the desperation of grief often makes people do unhinged things to try to assuage their pain.
Ultimately, the law will determine whether Miller gets what she is demanding, but one thing is for sure — no amount of money or legal threats will bring her daughter back.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.