Request By:
Mr. E. V. Holder, Jr.
Attorney at Law
Courthouse
P.O. Box 157
Vanceburg, Kentucky 41179
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By William S. Riley, Assistant Attorney General
In your recent letter to the Attorney General, it is stated that Howard Brewer, Sr., died intestate on November 9, 1976, a citizen and resident of Lewis County, Kentucky. He was survived by three legitimate adult children and one illegitimate child born to a Frances Chinn to which the decedent was never married. He did acknowledge paternity of the child to the Social Security Administration.
The question is whether under Kentucky law the illegitimate child inherited anything from the decedent and if so, what exemption would the child be entitled to for inheritance tax purposes.
KRS 391.090(2) states that a bastard shall inherit only from his mother and his mother's kindred.
However, in the recent case of Robert L. Rudolph v. Nannie Mae Rudolph, decided May 20, 1977, by the Kentucky Court of Appeals, the Court permitted Robert L. Rudolph, the illegitimate child of Robert Rudolph, who died intestate on January 14, 1976, to inherit from his natural parent, Robert Rudolph. It was stipulated that Robert L. Rudolph's mother, one Rose Hayden Poindexter, had never been married to Robert Rudolph. The Court left open for further consideration the question of whether the opinion should have prospective effect. The parties to the action were ordered by the Court to submit briefs within 20 days from the date of the opinion on the question of whether the decision should have prospective application. A copy of the opinion is attached.
Also see Trimble v. Gordon, U.S., 52 L. Ed. 2d 31, 97 S. Ct. , decided April 26, 1977, where it was held that an Illinois legitimacy distinction for intestate succession violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution and permitted an illegitimate child to inherit from an intestate father.
It would appear, therefore, an illegitimate child may inherit from either parent and not just from the mother or the mother's kindred.