PARENT AND CHILD-LEGITIMATION-STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION

Authors

Abstract

J W, a resident of Oklahoma, died leaving an estate consisting of property entirely within that state. Plaintiff, an illegitimate child of J W, claimed as heir. Plaintiff was born in Kansas where both her parents were then domiciled. J W while still a resident of Kansas recognized plaintiff as his daughter. Plaintiff claimed that by virtue of this recognition and a Kansas statute allowing illegitimates to inherit from the father whenever he had recognized them as his children, that she had been legitimated in Kansas and was therefore entitled to a share of J W's estate. Held, that the statute had not been construed by the supreme court of Kansas as a legitimation statute and could not be so construed, but was a mere inheritance statute giving illegitimate children the right to inherit but not changing their status to that of legitimate children. One of the three judges dissented, holding that the supreme court of Kansas had adopted the civil law doctrines as to legitimation, that by the civil law recognition was one means of legitimation and plaintiff should therefore share in the estate of J Was an heir. Pfeifer v. Wright, 41 F.(2d) 464.

Recommended Citation

PARENT AND CHILD-LEGITIMATION-STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION, 29 Mich. L. Rev. 258 (1930).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol29/iss2/27