Law of Wills, 2016A

few other states allow the adopted child to inherit from and through both his or her adoptive and
birth parents. In Colorado, if there are no other heirs, the adopted child may file a claim against the
estate of the birth parent within 90 days of the parent’s death. 25 Pennsylvania permits an adopted
child to inherit from the estate of a birth relative, other than a birth parent, who has maintained a
family relationship with the adopted child. 26
With regards to inheritance issues, two questions must be answered—Which adopted
children should have the opportunity to inherit? From whom should the adopted child be permitted
to inherit?. The litigation surrounding the answers to those questions involved the following issues:
(1) Whether the legally adopted child has the right to inherit from and through his or her birth
parents; (2) Whether the legally adopted child has the right to inherit from and through his or her
adoptive parents; (3) Whether the courts should use its equitable powers to permit a child who has
not been legally adopted to inherit from and through the intended adoptive parents; and (4)
Whether a child who was adopted as an adult should be permitted to inherit from and through his
adoptive parents.
4.3.1 Legal Adoption
McKinney’s D.R.L. § 117(b) Right to inherit from and through the biological parents
eliminated after adoption
(b) The rights of an adoptive child to inheritance and succession from and through his birth
parents shall terminate upon the making of the order of adoption except as hereinafter
provided.
The language contained in the above-cited statute is representative of the language found in
a majority of state adoption statutes. Once a competent court declares that a child has been legally
adopted, the legal relationship between that child and his or her birth parent(s) is severed. The basis
of having the ability to inherit from a parent who dies intestate is dependent upon the existence of a
parent-child relationship. As a result, once a child is adopted, he or she is not considered to be an
heir of his or her biological parent(s). As the next case illustrates, the child may lose the opportunity
to inherit from a parent even if that parent does not consent to the legal adoption.
Aldridge v. MIMS, 884 P.2d 817 (N.M. 1994)
BLACK, J.
Born out of wedlock, Steven Aldridge (Child) was adopted in 1978 by his maternal grandparents, but
consent to the adoption was not obtained from his natural father. The maternal grandmother
attested that the adoption petition did not contain any reference to the alleged natural father because
adopted child may, under the laws of descent and distribution, inherit from and through the adopting parents and their
relative, and the adopting parents and their family may inherit from and through such adopted child.”).
25 Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 15-11-103(6)-(7); 15-11-114.
26 Pa. Cons. Stat. Tit. 20, § 2108 (“An adoption person shall not be considered as continuing to be the child of his or her
natural parents except in distributing the estate of a natural kin, other than the natural parent, who has maintained a
family relationship with the adopted person.”).
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