Law of Wills, 2016A

Conclusion
Based on the foregoing reasons, we find the chancellor did not err in ruling that DeMarcus is
entitled to two one-ninth shares of Janice's estate. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the
Chancery Court of Pike County.
The Judgment of the Chancery Court of Pike County is Affirmed.
Notes and Questions
1. In the majority jurisdictions, after a child is adopted, the court severs the relationship between that
child and the child’s birth parents. Since a parent-child relationship no longer exists, the child does
not have the right to inherit from the birth parents. See Matter of Estate of Jank, 521 N.W.2d 162 (Wis.
App. 1994).
2. Eventually, in stranger adoption cases, the identity of the birth parents was withheld from the
adopted child. The purpose of that was to protect the privacy of the adopted parents and the birth
parents. That also enables the child to be part of the new family unit. See Elizabeth J. Samuels, The
Idea of Adoption: An Inquiry Into the History of Adult Adoptee Access to Birth Records, 53 Rutgers L. Rev.
367 (Winter 2001).
3. From a public policy perspective, what are the reasons to prevent the adopted child from
inheriting from the biological parents? A child’s biological grandparents are not a part of the
adoption process. Why does it make sense to prevent the child from inheriting from his or her
biological grandparents?
4. What would be the outcome of the Jenkins case in a UPC jurisdiction? Is the approach set forth in
UPC § 2-113 better than the one utilized by the court in the Jenkins case?
4.3.2 Equitable Adoption
Right to inherit from the intended adoptive parents
It is clear that a child who is legally adopted has a right to inherit from his or her adopted
parents. In order for the adoption to be legal, the parties must comply with the mandates of the
adoption statute. Nonetheless, courts have exercised their equitable powers to recognize informal
arrangements that have the attributes of adoptions. These situations are referred to as virtual or
equitable adoptions. An equitably adopted child acquires the right to inherit from the person who
informally adopts him or her.
In order to establish the existence of an equitable adoption, the child must prove the
following elements: (1) an agreement to adopt between the birth parents and alleged adoptive
parents; (2) performance by the birth parents of the child in giving custody; (3) performance by the
child by living in the home of the alleged adoptive parents; (4) partial performance by the alleged
adoptive parents in taking the child into their home and treating the child as their own child; and (5)
intestacy of the alleged adoptive parents. Once a competent court decides that a child has been
equitably adopted, that child has the right to inherit from the intended adoptive parents.
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