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Keywords

trialprobateadoption

probateadoption

Related Cases

Estate of Joseph, 17 Cal.4th 203, 949 P.2d 472, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 619, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 261, 98 Daily Journal D.A.R. 335

Facts

Kim Barnum-Smith, the petitioner, sought letters of administration for the estate of Louis Joseph, claiming to be his daughter and sole heir. The decedent had raised her from age three and had considered adopting her, but legal barriers prevented this. After the decedent's death, his brother contested her claim, leading to a trial where the court found that the legal barriers to adoption had been removed before the decedent's death, thus ruling that she was not entitled to inherit.

Petitioner, Kim Barnum–Smith, asked the Probate Department of the Superior Court of Alameda County for letters of administration of the estate of decedent, Louis Joseph, who died intestate, and was subsequently issued such letters of administration.

Issue

Whether the purported foster child qualifies as a 'child' under the Probate Code for the purposes of intestate succession.

Rule

Under Probate Code section 6454, a foster child can only be considered a child of the foster parent for intestate succession if the relationship began during the child's minority and continued throughout their joint lifetimes, with clear evidence that the foster parent would have adopted the child but for a legal barrier.

Pursuant to section 6400 et seq. of the Probate Code, the estate of a deceased parent may pass by intestate succession to his child as heir. For these purposes, the code defines the relationship of parent and child to exist in three situations.

Analysis

The court applied the rule by examining the timeline of the relationship between the decedent and the petitioner. It determined that while the petitioner was raised by the decedent, the legal barriers to adoption had been removed prior to his death. Therefore, the court concluded that the requirements of Probate Code section 6454 were not met, as the legal barrier to adoption did not persist until the decedent's death.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's ruling, concluding that the purported foster child was not entitled to inherit from the decedent's estate.

Affirmed.

Who won?

The decedent's brother prevailed in the case, as the court found that the legal requirements for the foster child to inherit were not satisfied.

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