Estate of Seaman
New York Court of Appeals
583 N.E.2d 294, 576 N.Y.S.2d 838, 78 N.Y.2d 451 (1991)
- Written by Serena Lipski, JD
Facts
While Lloyd I. Seaman was married to Gladys Seaman, they had a son, Lloyd Dudley Seaman (Dudley). Lloyd and Gladys divorced, Gladys remarried, and her second husband adopted Dudley. Dudley later had a daughter, Charlotte L. Gaynor (defendant). Lloyd also remarried following his divorce from Gladys, and with his second wife, Mary, Lloyd had a daughter, Roberta. Dudley predeceased Roberta. When Roberta died, she left a large estate, which was to be distributed according to intestacy statutes. Roberta had no children, and her parents did not survive her. The estate was going to be distributed to Gaynor as Roberta’s niece, but the children of Mary’s sister, Roberta’s first cousins (plaintiffs), objected. The surrogate’s court determined that the child of an adoptee could not inherit from the adoptee’s biological family under intestacy statutes. Gaynor appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Simons, J.)
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