Opinion ID: 1267011
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Scrappy Pinckney's Legitimacy

Text: D & S argues the Master erred by finding Scrappy Pinckney did not have a property interest because he was not James Leonard Pinckney's heir at law. D & S argues that where all parties to an action admit the paternity of an illegitimate child by the father, the Mitchell v. Hardwick, 297 S.C. 48, 374 S.E.2d 681 (1988) requirement that paternity must be conclusively established by either a court order issued prior to the father's death or by an instrument signed by the father acknowledging paternity does not apply. We disagree. First, we will address whether Maggie Richardson and James Leonard Pinckney were married at the time of Scrappy Pinckney's birth in 1927. Next, we will discuss whether Scrappy Pinckney could inherit from his father as an heir at law under South Carolina law.
In this case, there is no single trial exhibit or witness that conclusively establishes Scrappy Pinckney's legitimacy. The Master found Scrappy's parents were not married at the time of his birth based on the testimony of Lorraine Lewis and Silas Knight, two of Scrappy Pinckney's family members. We agree with the Master's findings. Lorraine Lewis' testimony is the most convincing evidence of James Leonard Pinckney and Maggie Richardson's marital status. Lorraine Lewis, Scrappy Pinckney's aunt, lived in the same home with Scrappy Pinckney for many years. She testified that Scrappy Pinckney's mother, Maggie Richardson, lived with her parents for a period of time preceding and subsequent to his birth. According to Lorraine Lewis, it was the practice of her parents not to allow any of their children, if unmarried, to sleep with a member of the opposite sex in their home. She claims that when Maggie Richardson stayed with her family, her parents made Maggie Richardson sleep in the bedroom, while James Leonard Pinckney would sleep on the couch. According to Lorraine Lewis and Silas Knight, James Leonard Pinckney and Maggie Richardson were never married. Furthermore, there was no evidence presented by any of the witnesses that Maggie Richardson and James Leonard Pinckney were known to live together, either as husband and wife or otherwise. Also presented as evidence of Scrappy Pinckney's illegitimacy were three statements from the Probate Courts of Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester Counties. Each county reviewed their marriage records through 1927 and found no record of a marriage license between James Leonard Pinckney and Maggie Richardson. The absence of a marriage license does not prove the absence of a valid marriage, particularly when only three South Carolina counties were searched. The Master acknowledges that [w]hile the absence of a license does not render the marriage illegal, the Court would note that the absence of a piece of evidence that would ordinarily be available can be considered as evidence of the non-existence of the fact or facts that such a document would otherwise attest to. The Master found the absence of a marriage license further substantiated the testimony of Lorraine Lewis and Silas Knight that Scrappy Pinckney's parents were not married at the time of his birth. The other evidence of Scrappy Pinckney's illegitimacy was Maggie Richardson's funeral bulletin. Her obituary lists all of her surviving family members, which included two daughters, two sons-in-law, two grandsons, three sisters, several nieces, nephews, and cousins. The obituary did not acknowledge a marriage between Maggie Richardson and James Leonard Pinckney, and did not acknowledge Scrappy Pinckney as Maggie Richardson's son. As evidence of James Leonard Pinckney and Maggie Richardson's marital status, D & S presented a copy of Scrappy Pinckney's birth certificate and two hearsay statements by acquaintances who believed James Leonard Pinckney and Maggie Richardson were married. The birth certificate identifies Scrappy Pinckney's father as James Pinckney and his mother as Maggie Pinckney. According to D & S, the names on the birth certificate indicate Scrappy Pinckney's parents were married at the time of his birth because his father and the mother have the same last name. However, the birth certificate was only signed by the midwife, it was not signed by either James Leonard Pinckney or Maggie Richardson. The Master did not find the birth certificate persuasive proof of legitimacy based on the Court of Appeals' recent decision in Freeman v. Freeman, 323 S.C. 95, 473 S.E.2d 467 (Ct.App.1996) (holding a birth certificate is not conclusive proof of paternity under the Mitchell test) (see discussion below). The Master found the testimony of Scrappy Pinckney's family members, Lorraine Lewis and Silas Knight, more persuasive than the evidence presented by D & S. Lorraine Lewis and Silas Knight provided direct testimony concerning Maggie Richardson and James Leonard Pinckney's marital status. Both family members knew Scrappy Pinckney well and lived close to him all of his life. We agree with the Master that the family member's direct testimony, in conjunction with the absence of a marriage license and the obituary, indicates Scrappy Pinckney's parents were not married when he was born in 1927.
In 1954, when James Leonard Pinckney died intestate, illegitimate children could not inherit from their fathers in South Carolina because they were not regarded as their father's heirs at law. See S.C.Code Ann. § 21-3-30 (1976). [1] In 1977, the United States Supreme Court in Trimble v. Gordon, 430 U.S. 762, 97 S.Ct. 1459, 52 L.Ed.2d 31 (1977), held an Illinois statute that denied an illegitimate child inheritance from its father was an unconstitutional violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because of its disparate treatment of legitimate and illegitimate heirs. In Wilson v. Jones, 281 S.C. 230, 314 S.E.2d 341 (1984), this Court adopted the rule enunciated in Trimble and held it should be applied prospectively only because retroactive application would disrupt the orderly process of probate. Id. at 232, 314 S.E.2d at 343. Therefore, only those illegitimate children whose fathers died after April 26, 1977, the date of the Trimble decision, could inherit from their father's estates. Id. In 1988, this Court in Mitchell v. Hardwick, 297 S.C. 48, 374 S.E.2d 681 (1988) modified Wilson to allow limited retroactive application of Trimble where certain factors are met. Changes in the law are usually prospective, not retroactive. However, the Court was persuaded by the West Virginia Supreme Court who addressed the same issue and found that retroactivity may be extended ... in a way that justly and fairly reconciles the constitutional interests in equality recognized in the new rule of law with reliance and finality interests founded upon the former law. Williamson v. Gane, 176 W.Va. 443, 345 S.E.2d 318, 320 (1986). The Court modified Wilson to allow retroactive application of the Trimble decision in the limited circumstances where the following conditions are met: (1) innocent persons will not be adversely affected because of their detrimental reliance on the old inheritance rules; (2) the paternity of the child had been conclusively established either by court order or decree issued prior to the death of the father or by an instrument signed by the father acknowledging paternity; and (3) the estate administration is subject to further resolution. Mitchell, 297 S.C. at 51, 374 S.E.2d at 683. In Mitchell, a father died intestate leaving as heirs at law two adopted daughters. His son petitioned the lower court for the partition of his father's estate property on the ground he was his father's illegitimate son. Id. at 49, 374 S.E.2d at 682. The Court found paternity was undisputed because of the testimony of several family members, the physical resemblance between father and son, and most importantly, a deed signed and recorded by the father that specifically acknowledged the parent-child relationship. Id. at 49, 374 S.E.2d at 682. The Court found the deed satisfied the paternity requirement because it was an instrument signed by the father acknowledging paternity. Because all three Mitchell factors were satisfied, this Court allowed the illegitimate son to recover from his father's estate even though the father died prior to the Trimble decision. The Court of Appeals further addressed the retroactive application of Trimble in Freeman, supra . The Court of Appeals held that despite persuasive evidence of paternity, Mitchell requires that paternity be conclusively established by either a court order issued prior to the father's death or by an instrument signed by the father acknowledging paternity. In Freeman, the child could not meet the strict requirements of Mitchell, but she could produce a birth certificate with her biological father's name on it. Id. at 103, 473 S.E.2d at 472. The Court of Appeals adhered to the strict requirements of Mitchell, held the birth certificate did not conclusively establish paternity, and found the child was not her father's heir at law. Id. The only difference between the instant case and Freeman is that paternity is not contested by the family. However, Freeman demonstrates a birth certificate cannot be used in lieu of the specific documents required by Mitchell. In the instant matter, the first and third Mitchell requirements are satisfied because there is no evidence an innocent person would be adversely affected by detrimentally relying on the old inheritance laws, and there is no evidence James Leonard Pinckney's estate was probated. The insurmountable problem Scrappy Pinckney confronts is the second Mitchell factorthe conclusive proof of paternity. While no party challenges Scrappy Pinckney is James Leonard Pinckney's son, there is no evidence of a court order establishing paternity or of an instrument signed by James Leonard Pinckney acknowledging Scrappy Pinckney's paternity prior to his death. While the record contains persuasive evidence Scrappy Pinckney was James Leonard Pinckney's son, Mitchell prevents Scrappy Pinckney from inheriting from James Leonard Pinckney because Trimble can have retroactive effect in South Carolina only if all three Mitchell factors are satisfied. We find the rules in Mitchell and Freeman control in this case even though the family members did not contest paternity. Public policy demands the strict adherence to the Mitchell requirements. Fraudulent assertions of paternity will be much less likely to succeed, or even to arise, where proof of paternity must be established by either a court order issued prior to the father's death or by an instrument signed by the father. See Lalli v. Lalli, 439 U.S. 259, 99 S.Ct. 518, 58 L.Ed.2d 503 (1978) (holding public policy supports a rule where paternity must be established by an order of filiation issued during the putative father's lifetime for an illegitimate child to recover as an heir at law). Furthermore, if we adopted the rule D & S advocates, we would create a great uncertainty for title abstractors because an action seeking to add heirs could be brought at any time. A purchaser would have to bring a quiet title action every time he purchases property in order to ensure good title. Unfortunately, under this rule, some children will not inherit from their biological fathers simply because they do not possess the specific documents required by Mitchell. However, in addressing a similar paternity requirement in New York, the United States Supreme Court in Lalli found that certain children will not be able to inherit from their biological fathers even though their paternity is not disputed. While this may be unfortunate, the United States Supreme Court found the strict paternity requirement was necessary, as a matter of public policy, to prevents spurious claims. Id. We find the Mitchell requirements promote stability and prevent both fraudulent challenges to, and fraudulent assertions of, paternity. We, therefore, uphold the Mitchell rule and find that Scrappy Pinckney cannot inherit as James Leonard Pinckney's heir at law.