Child Born Out Of Wedlock Is An Intestate Heir Of Decendents’ Estate
A person born out of wedlock presented clear and convincing evidence that decedent was her father, so she was an heir who was entitled to a share of his estate.
Decedent died intestate in November 2016. The petition for letters of administration listed five individuals as his heirs. All of the heirs signed a renunciation in favor of decedent’s son, Adam Ackley, to be appointed as administrator. The administrator decided that Brittany Ackley was not the natural child of decedent and so she would not receive a distributive share of the estate. Brittany had not received any information regarding the estate, so she retained counsel and filed a petition for a formal accounting. The administrator then filed a request for Brittany to undergo DNA testing to prove paternity. The court denied the request for DNA testing and scheduled a hearing on the issue of whether Brittany Ackley was an heir of the decedent’s estate.
Brittany Ackley’s birth certificate listed decedent as her father. Although her parents never married, Brittany lived with both of them until she was about eight years old. After her parents separated, Brittany lived with her mother for a while and later moved in with decedent during her high school years. Decedent became blind while Brittany was still in school, but he continued to attend her extracurricular activities. During her final year of high school, Brittany moved in with her aunt in another city. Both her mother and decedent signed documents to give legal guardianship to the aunt while Brittany was finishing school. After graduating, Brittany lived with decedent off and on.
Decedent never denied that he was Brittany’s father. The evidence indicated that Brittany Ackley always considered her step-siblings as her brothers and sisters. Although decedent never made formal child support payments on behalf of Brittany, he supported her and her sister while he lived with them and their mother. When decedent qualified for veterans’ benefits, Brittany also received some benefits as his dependent. In support of her claim, Brittany submitted photographs and text messages.
At the hearing, Adam Ackley acknowledged that he saw Brittany while they were growing up. He claimed that he always knew that Brittany was not decedent’s child because his mother had told him so.
Under the state’s intestacy law, decedent’s estate was subject to equal division among his issue, because he left no surviving spouse a person born out of wedlock had to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent was that person’s parent. The court held that Brittany Ackley met that standard. Adam Ackley presented no evidence, aside from inadmissible hear-say, that decedent was not the father of Brittany Ackley. Decedent was listed as Brittany’s father on her birth certificate, and he openly held her out as his child and provided support for her. The court concluded that Brittany Ackley was an heir of decedent’s estate.
Ref: Digests of Recent Opinions, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, 43 PLW 1143, Tuesday, December 15, 2020, in re: Estate of Ackley, PICS Case No. 20-1258 (C.P. Monroe, Nov. 6, 2020)
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