Who’s Your Daddy?

California Court Upholds Intestate Distribution of Estate to Stepchild Despite Objection of Biological Children

Recently, in the Estate of Martino (2023) 96 Cal.App.5th 596, the California Court of Appeal upheld a ruling of the San Diego County probate court wherein a stepson was permitted to inherit from his stepfather despite that he had never been adopted, his biological mother divorced his stepfather almost 50 years prior, and the stepfather’s biological children objected. The decedent, Nick Martino (“Decedent”), died without an estate plan, and his assets were being administered in the probate court for distribution. During the administration, the stepson filed a petition with the court to be deemed a “stepchild heir” to inherit a one-third interest of the estate. The stepson’s biological mother had married the Decedent in 1966 when the stepson was 5 years old, and they subsequently divorced 6 years later, in 1972. Decedent never legally adopted the stepchild even though his biological father had died in 2004, thereby removing any legal barrier for the adoption to have occurred prior to Decedent’s death in or around 2019. The probate court found the Decedent to be the “natural parent” of the stepson under Probate Code § 6453 and ordered the stepson to be an intestate heir authorized to inherit from the estate.

Prior to this ruling, it was generally understood that the only manner in which a stepchild could inherit under the laws of intestacy was either: 1) the stepchild had been legally adopted by the deceased stepparent; or 2) if both of the following requirements were satisfied:

(a) The parent-child relationship began during the stepchild’s minority and continued throughout the joint lifetimes of the stepchild and stepparent; and

(b) It is established by clear and convincing evidence that the stepparent would have adopted the person but for a legal barrier (Probate Code § 6454). As held by the California Supreme Court, this legal barrier to adoption must have existed throughout the entirety of the joint lifetimes of the stepchild and the stepparent, even if the stepchild was an adult by the time of the decedent’s death. (Estate of Joseph (1998) 17 Cal.4th 203, 211–216 (Joseph); see Family Code § 9300(a) [“An adult may be adopted by another adult, including a stepparent … .”].)

After a five-day bench trial, the court ruled that the stepson had failed to prove Decedent’s intent to adopt. However, while that previously would have served as a bar to any further claim by the stepchild to heirship, the court then granted the petition pursuant to the “natural parent” theory under Probate Code § 6453. First, the court found that Decedent was the presumed parent because he received the child into his home and openly held out the child as his natural child. The court noted that there was no period of time that the relationship must start or exist for, nor does the child need to be the biological child to satisfy the “natural” child requirement. The fact that Decedent referred to the child as “his son” was sufficient for the court. As a second and additional ground for its ruling, the court also found that the stepson met his burden to show that Decedent openly held him out as his natural child. (Family Code § 7611(d); Probate Code § 6453).

Decedent’s biological children argued that Decedent could not possibly be deemed the “natural parent” of the stepchild because, in a previous and separate court action for the administration of the stepchild’s biological father’s estate, the stepchild had argued and admitted that the biological father was his “natural father.” The court disagreed, finding that a child can have a parent-child relationship with more than two parents, stating “[t]here is nothing inherently improper in conferring a right to inherit from two separate paternal stocks.” (Estate of Bassi (1965) 234 Cal.App.2d 529, 553). This begs the question, how many “parents” can one inherit from?

The above holding provides additional motivation to ensure that your estate plan is in order such that your estate avoids the probate court and the laws of intestacy. Ferruzzo attorneys are available to assist with all of your planning needs to ensure your wishes and intentions are properly implemented.

Note: This article is not meant to provide specific legal advice. For advice specific to your estate, please contact any of the attorneys in our Trust Litigation and Estate Planning Practice Group who are ready to assist you.