Category: Laws and Legal

If your parent is alive, get adopted, no matter how old you are.

If your parent is dead, you may be able to revise your birth certificate. You will need to get a court order to change your name and have your birth certificate changed. We had to figure this out on our own, none of our lawyers were smart enough to figure this out. By the time we realized it, it was the day before we were supposed to submit “the agreement”. We were all so tired of all the legal battles, we just signed the agreement (under duress).

This would have put us at the same standing as Miss Adopted Middle Aged Woman as far as being a legal heir. Hopefully, this information helps someone else who might be shortchanged by the legal system.

Seems like this statute would have applied, if only we had competent legal representation.

http://codes.findlaw.com/ca/probate-code/prob-sect-6454.html

For the purpose of determining intestate succession by a person or the person’s issue from or through a foster parent or stepparent, the relationship of parent and child exists between that person and the person’s foster parent or stepparent if both of the following requirements are satisfied: (a) The relationship began during the person’s minority and continued throughout the joint lifetimes of the person and the person’s foster parent or stepparent. (b) It is established by clear and convincing evidence that the foster parent or stepparent would have adopted the person but for a legal barrier.

– See more at: http://codes.findlaw.com/ca/probate-code/prob-sect-6454.html#sthash.ysZ74J4E.dpuf

 

California Law on Stepchild Inheritance

This is an excellent article on Stepchild inheritance rights. The courts are far behind the times in what a “family” is today.

CA Law Stepchild Inheritance