Source: https://www.chanrobles.com/usa/us_supremecourt/439/259/case.php
Timestamp: 2020-08-08 23:29:44
Document Index: 331614635

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 522', '§ 4']

(c) The primary goal underlying the challenged aspects of § 4-1.2 is chanrobles.com-red
POWELL, J., announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion, in which BURGER, C.J.,and STEWART, J., joined. STEWART, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 439 U. S. 276. BLACKMUN, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, post, p. 439 U. S. 276. REHNQUIST, J., filed a statement concurring in the judgment, post, p. 439 U. S. 276. BRENNAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which WHITE, MARSHALL, and STEVENS, JJ., joined, post, p. 439 U. S. 277. chanrobles.com-red
Appellant conceded that he had not obtained an order of filiation during his putative father's lifetime. He contended, however, that § 4-1.2, by imposing this requirement, discriminated against him on the basis of his illegitimate birth in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. [Footnote 3] Appellant tendered certain evidence of his relationship with Mario Lalli, including a notarized document chanrobles.com-red
Appellant appealed the Court of Appeals' decision to this Court. While that case was pending here, we decided Trimble v. Gordon, 430 U. S. 762 (1977). Because the issues in these two cases were similar in some respects, we vacated and remanded to permit further consideration in light of Trimble. Lalli v. Lalli, 431 U.S. 911 (1977). chanrobles.com-red
We concluded that the Illinois statute discriminated against chanrobles.com-red
illegitimate children in a manner prohibited by the Equal Protection Clause. Although, as decided in Mathews v. Lucas, 427 U. S. 495, 427 U. S. 506 (1976), and reaffirmed in Trimble, supra, at 430 U. S. 767, classifications based on illegitimacy are not subject to "strict scrutiny," they nevertheless are invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment if they are not substantially related to permissible state interests. Upon examination, we found that the Illinois law failed that test.
Trimble, supra at 430 U. S. 770. chanrobles.com-red
At the outset we observe that § 4-1.2 is different in important respects from the statutory provision overturned in Trimble. The Illinois statute required, in addition to the father's acknowledgment of paternity, the legitimation of the child through the intermarriage of the parents as an absolute precondition to inheritance. This combination of requirements eliminated "the possibility of a middle ground between the extremes of complete exclusion and case-by-case determination of paternity." Trimble, 430 U.S. at 430 U. S. 770-771. As chanrobles.com-red
A related difference between the two provisions pertains to the state interests aid to be served by them. The Illinois law was defended, in part, as a means of encouraging legitimate family relationships. No such justification has been offered in support of § 4-1.2. The Court of Appeals disclaimed that the purpose of the statute, "even in small part, chanrobles.com-red
was to discourage illegitimacy, to mold human conduct or to set societal norms." In re Lalli, supra at 70, 371 N.E.2d at 483. The absence in § 4-1.2 of any requirement that the parents intermarry or otherwise legitimate a child born out of wedlock, and our review of the legislative history of the statute, infra at 439 U. S. 269-271, confirm this view.
The primary state goal underlying the challenged aspects of § 4-1.2 is to provide for the just and orderly disposition of property at death. [Footnote 6] We long have recognized that this is an area with which the States have an interest of considerable magnitude. Trimble, supra at 430 U. S. 771; Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 406 U.S. at 170; Labine v. Vincent, 401 U.S. at 401 U. S. 538; see also Lyeth v. Hoey, 305 U. S. 188, 305 U. S. 193 (1938); @ 49 U. S. 493 (1850).
In re Ortiz, 60 Misc.2d chanrobles.com-red
Although the overarching purpose of the proposed statute was "to alleviate the plight of the illegitimate child," Commission Report 37, the Bennett Commission considered it necessary to impose the strictures of § 4-1.2 in order to mitigate serious difficulties in the administration of the estates of chanrobles.com-red
85 Misc.2d at 859, 381 N. Y S.2d at 575-576. chanrobles.com-red
The administration of an estate will be facilitated, and the possibility of delay and uncertainty minimized, where the entitlement of an illegitimate child to notice and participation is a matter of judicial record before the administration commences. Fraudulent assertions of paternity will be much less likely to succeed, or even to arise, where the proof is put chanrobles.com-red
before a court of law at a time when the putative father is available to respond, rather than first brought to light when the distribution of the assets of an estate is in the offing. [Footnote 8]
We do not question that there will be some illegitimate children who would be able to establish their relationship to chanrobles.com-red
The New York courts have interpreted § 4-1.2 liberally and in such a way as to enhance its utility to both father and child without sacrificing its strength as a procedural prophylactic. For example, a father of illegitimate children who is willing to acknowledge paternity can waive his defenses in a paternity proceeding, e.g., In re Thomas, 87 Misc.2d 1033, 387 N.Y.S.2d 216 (Surr.Ct.1976), or even institute such a proceeding himself. [Footnote 10] N.Y.Family Court Act § 522 (McKinney Supp. 1978); In re Flemm, 85 Misc.2d at 863, 381 N.Y.S.2d at 578. In addition, the courts have excused "technical" failures by illegitimate children to comply with chanrobles.com-red
Id. at 427 U. S. 515-516. [Footnote 11] chanrobles.com-red
We conclude that the requirement imposed by § 4-1.2 on illegitimate children who would inherit from their fathers is substantially related to the important state interests the statute chanrobles.com-red
It seems to me that the Court today gratifyingly reverts to the principles set forth in Labine v. Vincent. What Mr. Justice Black said for the Court in Labine applies with equal chanrobles.com-red
The present case illustrates the injustice of the departure from Trimble worked by today's decision sustaining the New York rule. All interested parties concede that Robert Lalli is the son of Mario Lalli. Mario Lalli supported Robert during his son's youth. Mario Lalli formally acknowledged Robert Lalli as his son. See In re Lalli, 38 N.Y.2d 77, 79, 340 N.E.2d 721, 722 (1975). Yet, for want of a judicial order of filiation entered during Mario's lifetime, Robert Lalli is denied his intestate share of his father's estate. chanrobles.com-red
But even if my confidence in the accuracy of formal public acknowledgments of paternity were unfounded, New York has available less drastic means of screening out fraudulent chanrobles.com-red