Judith A. Dasilva v. Lisa Grahovac, Personal Representative for the Estate of James R. Morken, deceased

Summary

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Judith A. Dasilva’s Petition to Determine Heirship in the supervised estate of James R. Morken. The court held that Indiana Code section 29-1-2-8 preserves inheritance rights between an adopted child and the natural parent who married the adopting parent, but does not allow inheritance from the other natural parent after a stepparent adoption. The court also affirmed judgment on the pleadings for the estate’s personal representative.

Holdings

1. The statute's exception for a natural parent who marries the adopting parent preserves the adopted child's intestate inheritance relationship with the natural parent who married the adopting parent; it does not restore inheritance rights between the child and the other natural parent whose legal relationship was severed by the adoption.
2. The trial court properly granted judgment on the pleadings because, under the correct interpretation of Indiana Code section 29-1-2-8, Dasilva could not inherit from Morken and therefore could not obtain relief on her petition to determine heirship.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Indiana Code section 29-1-2-8 permits an adopted child to inherit from both natural parents and the adoptive parent when one natural parent married the adopting parent.
2. Whether the trial court properly granted judgment on the pleadings and denied Dasilva's petition to determine heirship.

Disposition

affirmed