Opinion ID: 1721745
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Intestate Succession and the Illegitimate Child

Text: Having found that the judgments rendered against Stone in the 1967 and 1968 proceedings may be set aside with respect to her right to share in the estate, and, furthermore, having found that her claim to set aside those judgments is not time-barred, we hold that she presented evidence that she was entitled to a determination of her rights, and to reopen the estate, as she requested in her third-party complaint. Therefore, the trial court erred in entering summary judgment on her claim. Because the entire record is before this Court, even though an appeal was not taken from the other judgments, in the interest of judicial economy, we will now address those rights rather than remand the cause to the trial court. The law concerning the right of an illegitimate child to inherit through intestate succession has seen many changes over the years. At common law, an illegitimate child, who had not been legitimated, was considered the child of no one and could inherit from no one. See Williams v. Witherspoon, 171 Ala. 559, 55 So. 132 (1911). The courts considered an illegitimate child nullius filius, the heir to nobody, and thus, the child ha[d] no ancestor from whom any inheritable blood [could] be derived. Lingen v. Lingen, 45 Ala. 410, 413 (1871) (quoting 1 Wendell's Blackstone, 459). By 1929, in the case of Moore v. Terry, 220 Ala. 47, 124 So. 80 (1929), overruled in part by Everage v. Gibson, supra, this Court had recognized that an illegitimate child, who had not been legitimated, could inherit from his mother, but not from his father, even if paternity was shown. This change was also reflected in Code 1940, Tit. 16, § 6, which provided that [e]very illegitimate child is considered as the heir of his mother, and inherits her estate in whole or in part, as the case may be, in like manner as if born in lawful wedlock. Later, in Hudson v. Reed, 259 Ala. 340, 66 So.2d 909 (1953), this Court described the common law rule as a harsh rule, and held that an illegitimate child, because of this statute, could inherit not only from his mother but also through his mother. Between 1929 and 1979, however, the law in Alabama recognized only the following two methods by which an illegitimate child could be legitimated in order to inherit from its father through intestate succession: 1) by marriage of the parents, accompanied by the father's recognition of the child; or 2) by a written declaration, attested by two witnesses, and filed with the judge of probate. [19] See Moore, 220 Ala. 47, 124 So. 80 (1929); see also Code 1923, §§ 9299, 9300, later codified at Code 1940, Tit. 27, §§ 10, 11, and Code 1975, §§ 26-11-1, 26-11-2. Additionally, there were statutes in effect at the time of Stone's birth that provided that a father of an illegitimate child could be required to support the child, even though there had been no formal adjudication of paternity. See Code 1940, Tit. 34, §§ 89, 90. Under these provisions, a charge of nonsupport against the putative father could be sustained, even if he had not been adjudicated the father, if the putative father had publicly acknowledged or treated the child as his own in a manner to indicate his voluntary acknowledgement of parenthood. See Law v. State, 238 Ala. 428, 191 So. 803 (1939). These statutes evidence the policy of the law to compel the father of an illegitimate child to support that child if the father had voluntarily acknowledged his parenthood, as Hank Williams did here. [20] After the United States Supreme Court decided the cases of Trimble v. Gordon, 430 U.S. 762, 97 S.Ct. 1459, 52 L.Ed.2d 31 (1977), and Lalli v. Lalli, 439 U.S. 259, 99 S.Ct. 518, 58 L.Ed.2d 503 (1978), [21] Alabama's law concerning the right of an illegitimate child to inherit from its father changed dramatically. In Trimble, 430 U.S. 762, 97 S.Ct. 1459, 52 L.Ed.2d 31 (1977), the Court found an Illinois statute, much like Alabama's Code 1975, §§ 26-11-1 and 26-11-2, which set forth the two methods of legitimation discussed above, to be unconstitutional under an equal protection challenge. The Court stated the following: `The status of illegitimacy has expressed through the ages society's condemnation of irresponsible liaisons beyond the bonds of marriage. But visiting this condemnation on the head of an infant is illogical and unjust. Moreover, imposing disabilities on the illegitimate child is contrary to the basic concept of our system that legal burdens should bear some relationship to individual responsibility or wrongdoing. Obviously, no child is responsible for his birth and penalizing the illegitimate child is an ineffectualas well as an unjustway of deterring the parent.' Trimble, 430 U.S. at 769, 97 S.Ct. at 1464 (quoting Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 406 U.S. 164, 175, 92 S.Ct. 1400, 1406, 31 L.Ed.2d 768 (1972)). In Lalli, 439 U.S. 259, 99 S.Ct. 518, 58 L.Ed.2d 503 (1978), the United States Supreme Court upheld, as constitutional, a similar New York statute because it provided that an illegitimate child could inherit from its father if there had been a judicial determination of paternity before the father's death. In Lalli, Mr. Justice Powell, while recognizing, however, the importance of the competing state interest in the just and orderly administration of decedents' estates, stated as follows: 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. We long have recognized that this is an area with which the States have an interest of considerable magnitude. Trimble, [430 U.S. 762 (1977) ] at 771 [97 S.Ct. at 1465]; Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 406 U.S. at 170 [92 S.Ct. at 1404]; Labine v. Vincent, 401 U.S. [532] at 538 [91 S.Ct. 1017, 1020, 28 L.Ed.2d 288]; see also Lyeth v. Hoey, 305 U.S. 188, 193 [59 S.Ct. 155, 158, 83 L.Ed. 119] (1938); Mager v. Grima, 8 How. [49 U.S.] 490, 493 [12 L.Ed. 1168] (1850). This interest is directly implicated in paternal inheritance by illegitimate children because of the peculiar problems of proof that are involved. Establishing maternity is seldom difficult. As one New York Surrogate's Court has observed: `[T]he birth of the child is a recorded or registered event usually taking place in the presence of others. In most cases the child remains with the mother and for a time is necessarily reared by her. That the child is the child of a particular woman is rarely difficult to prove.' In re Ortiz, 60 Misc.2d 756, 761, 303 N.Y.S.2d 806, 812 (1969). Proof of paternity, by contrast, frequently is difficult when the father is not part of a formal family unit. `The putative father often goes his way unconscious of the birth of a child. Even if conscious, he is very often totally unconcerned because of the absence of any ties to the mother. Indeed the mother may not know who is responsible for her pregnancy.' Ibid....; accord, In re Flemm, 85 Misc.2d 855, 861, 381 N.Y.S.2d 573, 576-577 (Surr.Ct. 1975); In re Hendrix, 68 Misc.2d, [439] at 443, 326 N.Y.S.2d, [646] at 650 [(1971)]; cf. Trimble, supra, [430 U.S.] at 770, 772 [97 S.Ct. at 1465, 1466]. 439 U.S. at 268-69, 99 S.Ct. at 524-25 (who emphasized in original; other emphasis added). Further, Mr. Justice Powell quoted extensively from In re Flemm, 86 Misc.2d 855, 381 N.Y.S.2d 573 (N.Y.Sur.1975), as follows: `An illegitimate, if made an unconditional distributee in intestacy, must be served with process in the estate of his parent or if he is a distributee in the estate of the kindred of a parent.... And, in probating the will of his parent (though not named a beneficiary) or in probating the will of any person who makes a class disposition to issue of such parent, the illegitimate must be served with process.... How does one cite and serve an illegitimate of whose existence neither family nor personal representative may be aware? And of great concern, how achieve finality of decree in any estate when there always exists the possibility however remote of a secret illegitimate lurking in the buried past of a parent or an ancestor of a class of beneficiaries? Finality in decree is essential in the Surrogates' Courts since title to real property passes under such decree. Our procedural statutes and Due Process Clause mandate notice and opportunity to be heard to all necessary parties. Given the right to intestate succession, all illegitimates must be served with process. This would be no real problem with respect to those few estates where there are known illegitimates. But it presents an almost insuperable burden as regards unknown illegitimates. The point made in the [Bennett] commission discussions was that instead of affecting only a few estates, procedural problems would be created for manysome members suggested a majorityof estates.' 85 Misc.2d, at 859, 381 N.Y.S.2d, at 575-576. 439 U.S. at 270, 99 S.Ct. at 525 (emphasis added). Recognizing a different view in Pickett v. Brown, 462 U.S. 1, 103 S.Ct. 2199, 76 L.Ed.2d 372 (1983), the United States Supreme Court, in holding a Tennessee statute of limitations involving illegitimate children unconstitutional, stated: In view of the history of treating illegitimate children less favorably than legitimate ones, we have subjected statutory classifications based on illegitimacy to a heightened level of scrutiny. Although we have held that classifications based on illegitimacy are not `suspect,' or subject to `our most exacting scrutiny,' Trimble v. Gordon, [430 U.S. 762 (1977) ], at 767 [97 S.Ct. 1459, 1465, 52 L.Ed.2d 31]; Mathews v. Lucas, 427 U.S., [495] at 506 [96 S.Ct. 2755, 2762, 49 L.Ed.2d 651], the scrutiny applied to them `is not a toothless one....' Id., at 510 [96 S.Ct. at 2664]. In United States v. Clark, [445 U.S. 23, 100 S.Ct. 895, 63 L.Ed.2d 171 (1980)], we stated that `a classification based on illegitimacy is unconstitutional unless it bears an evident and substantial relation to the particular... interest [the] statute is designed to serve.' 445 U.S., at 27 [100 S.Ct. at 899]. See also Lalli v. Lalli, [439 U.S. 259 (1978) ], at 265 [99 S.Ct. 518, 523, 58 L.Ed.2d 503] (plurality opinion) (`classifications based on illegitimacy ... are invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment if they are not substantially related to permissible state interests'). We applied a similar standard of review to a classification based on illegitimacy last Term in Mills v. Habluetzel, 456 U.S. 91 [102 S.Ct. 1549, 71 L.Ed.2d 770] (1982). We stated that restrictions on support suits by illegitimate children `will survive equal protection scrutiny to the extent they are substantially related to a legitimate state interest.' Id., at 99 [102 S.Ct. at 1554]. Our decisions in Gomez [ v. Perez, 409 U.S. 535, 93 S.Ct. 872, 35 L.Ed.2d 56 (1973)] and Mills are particularly relevant to a determination of the validity of the limitations period at issue in this case. In Gomez we considered `whether the laws of Texas may constitutionally grant legitimate children a judicially enforceable right to support from their natural fathers and at the same time deny that right to illegitimate children. 409 U.S., at 535 [93 S.Ct. at 872]. We stated that `a State may not invidiously discriminate against illegitimate children by denying them substantial benefits accorded children generally,' Id., at 538 [93 S.Ct. at 875], and held that `once a State posits a judicially enforceable right on behalf of children to needed support from their natural fathers there is no constitutionally sufficient justification for denying such an essential right to a child simply because its natural father has not married its mother.' Ibid. The Court acknowledged the `lurking problems with respect to proof of paternity,' ibid., and suggested that they could not `be lightly brushed aside.' Ibid. But those problems could not be used to form `an impenetrable barrier that works to shield otherwise invidious discrimination.' Ibid. (Emphasis added.) 462 U.S. at 8-9, 103 S.Ct. at 2204. Consequently, in 1979, this Court, in the case of Everage v. Gibson, 372 So.2d 829 (Ala.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 931, 100 S.Ct. 1322, 63 L.Ed.2d 765 (1980), in order to avoid finding Alabama's statutory scheme for intestate succession unconstitutional, construed it to include a third method of legitimation, i.e., a judicial determination of paternity made within two years of birth and during the father's lifetime. The Everage Court gleaned this third method from the child support statutes found at Code 1975, § 26-12-1 et seq. In 1982, the Alabama legislature superseded Everage and wrote this procedure into the Probate Code itself, in § 43-8-48, which provides that an illegitimate child is considered to be the child of the father if the parents marry or if paternity is established by an adjudication before the death of the father or thereafter by clear and convincing proof. [22] Then, in addition, in 1984, the legislature repealed Code 1975, § 26-12-1 et seq., and replaced those sections with the Alabama Uniform Parentage Act, found at Code 1975, § 26-17-1 et seq. Like the child support statutes it replaced, the AUPA sets forth a mechanism whereby a judicial determination of paternity can be made. Therefore, there are presently two statutory schemes for judicial determination of paternity, one in the Probate Code and one in the AUPA. Under the law as it exists today, there can be no question that where, as in this case, paternity has been established by clear and convincing evidence, [23] the law recognizes the right of the child to inherit through intestate succession. In brief response to the argument that Stone is barred from establishing her rights in the estate by operation of the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel, we note the following. First, with regard to the issue of Stone's paternity, it is clear from the record that this issue was not adjudicated in the 1967 and 1968 proceedings. The court stated that it [did] not believe that it [was] necessary to make this ... determination. Furthermore, the issue of Stone's paternity was not appealed to this Court, and therefore, no arguments concerning the issue of her paternity are material. Finally, as for the issues regarding Stone's rights that were adjudicated in the 1967 and 1968 proceedings, the fact that those determinations were influenced by legal fraud on the court renders the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel inapplicable, especially in this case, which involves the illegitimate child's right to share in the proceeds of copyright renewals that admittedly would have been payable to her as an illegitimate had her paternity not been concealed. See Code 1975, § 43-8-48; and Cotton v. Terry, 495 So.2d 1077 (Ala.1986). We recognize that the law at the time of her father's death had not yet recognized the third method of legitimation for the purpose of intestate succession, i.e., a judicial determination of paternity; however, we also recognize that the law as it existed at that time has since been found to be unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in Trimble v. Gordon, 430 U.S. 762, 97 S.Ct. 1459, 52 L.Ed.2d 31 (1977), and by this Court in Everage v. Gibson, 372 So.2d 829 (Ala. 1979). In an action, such as the present one, that is not time-barred and is properly before this Court, we are bound to apply a constitutional law as it exists at the time the appeal is heard. This situation has been addressed by this Court and the Court of Civil Appeals in the cases of Cotton v. Terry, 495 So.2d 1077 (Ala.1986); Abrams v. Wheeler, 468 So.2d 126 (Ala.1985); and Free v. Free, 507 So.2d 930 (Ala.Civ.App. 1986). In Cotton, 495 So.2d 1077 (Ala.1986), an illegitimate child brought an action to establish paternity under Code 1975, § 43-8-48(2)(b), 11 years after the death of the alleged father. In construing § 43-8-48(2)(b), this Court held: [I]t may be seen from the plain language of the statute that paternity of an illegitimate child may be established after the death of the father through an adjudication supported by clear and convincing evidence. When so established, such a child may inherit from the father through intestate succession. (Second emphasis added.) Cotton, 495 So.2d at 1079. In Cotton, as in the present case, there was clear evidence that the alleged father recognized the child as his and held himself out as the child's father. Yet, in Cotton, as in the present case, the law at the time of the alleged father's death would not have recognized the child as an heir. Even so, this Court did not apply an unconstitutional law to the parties, but, rather, applied the law as it existed at the time of the appeal. Also, in Abrams v. Wheeler, 468 So.2d 126 (Ala.1985), an illegitimate child brought a paternity action before the death of the father, but after the expiration of the two-year limitations period that had been adopted in Everage, 372 So.2d 829 (Ala. 1979). However, this Court refused to apply the two-year limitations period because it had since been found to be unconstitutional. Instead, it applied the law as it existed at the time of the appeal, and found the action not time-barred. Again, in Free v. Free, 507 So.2d 930 (Ala.Civ.App.1986), an illegitimate child brought an action under § 43-8-48(2)(b), not only after the death of the father, but also 20 years after the child had reached the age of majority. Despite the arguments by the legitimate heirs, the Court of Civil Appeals refused to apply the law in effect at the time of the death of the father or at the time of the birth of the child because that law had since been found unconstitutional. [24] To the extent that there remains a question of the effect of a subsequent adoption on the right to establish paternity, we address that issue briefly. Code 1975, § 43-8-48(1), part of the Probate Code, states: An adopted person is the child of an adopting parent and not of the natural parents.... In addition, Code 1975, § 26-17-6(e), part of the Alabama Uniform Parentage Act, provides: If the child has been adopted, an action [to establish paternity under this section] may not be brought. The trial court in the 1968 proceedings was erroneously of the opinion that the fact that Stone had twice been adopted acted as a bar to her recovery under the predecessors to these statutes. The crucial fact that the trial court failed to recognize in this case was that Stone had not been adopted at the time of her natural father's death. Therefore, any right that she had to inherit from his estate would have vested at the time of his death and would not have been affected by her subsequent adoption some two years later. We do not believe that, in drafting these statutes, the legislature intended to cut off the right of an after-adopted child to inherit from its natural parent's estate. [25] Construing these statutes liberally, in order to further the trend of ameliorating the harsh rule of the common law, which had been overturned in 1968 by the United States Supreme Court, and which had been criticized by this Court and by the trial court in 1968, we believe that these statutes are to be read to protect, rather than cut off, an after-adopted child's right to inherit from its natural parents. We hold, therefore, that because Stone had not been adopted at the time of her natural father's death, her rights in his estate had already vested, and, therefore, these statutes do not apply. [26]