Brown v. Nicholas

Eleanor Brown appeals from the judgment that admitted to probate the two documents we attach hereto as an appendix, thereby pre cluding her from inheriting her adoptive mother’s estate which consisted of only the family residence valued by the inheritance tax referee at $32,500. Although argued both here and below under many different headings, the one determinative question presented is:

Appellant’s testimony, which was unchallenged, established that though she and her mother had the same name they were not actually related, a fact appellant discovered only after her mother’s death. It appears that appellant’s mother and respondent Geraldine Nicholas, the mother’s sister, were at least 78 years old at the time of the mother’s death. Throughout her life the mother had led appellant to believe appellant was actually her granddaughter, whom the mother had adopted following the death of her own daughter.

Until early 1979, appellant had lived at home, attending school, working part time and caring for her mother. During the mother’s extended illness appellant took her to visit her doctor “a couple of times a month.” In mid-February of 1979, however, appellant, having…