Two decades ago, no states had civil unions, let alone marriage for same-sex couples.
But blue-chip lawyers in New York and Connecticut nevertheless suggested a recipe for romantic and economic happiness for an IBM heiress and her longtime female lover: They should get an adult adoption.
But what started as an outside-the box way to formalize a relationship has turned into a long-running court battle over the potential inheritance of $10 million or more.
via www.law.com
In Trusts and Estates class in law school, I think many of us got this scenario from our professors as the novel way to provide for life partners before the advent of same-sex marriage and civil unions. Well, it seems perhaps such a technique may have backfired.
At the time of the adoption only a few states allowed adult adoptions. Maine was one of the states that did, and luckily, one of the partners happened to have family property in Maine (a $20 million estate together with an airstrip....but who's counting).
Maine's adoption statute at the time only required that the adoptee be "living" in Maine.
After their breakup, the trustees of the trust which would have passed to one of the partner attacked the adoption based on the fact that neither of them "lived" in Maine. The Probate Judge agreed.
Fortunately, laws have evolved to allow same-sex partners to enter into legally binding relationships and plan their estates without such extreme measures.
Thanks as always to Attorney Matt Berger for this heads up on this article.
