Moran

*395 Opinion

The State Controller appeals from an order sustaining the objections of the executor to the inheritance tax classification of Doreen Baumann, the granddaughter of the testatrix. The court below concluded that, pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 13307 and Estate of Zook, 62 Cal.2d 492 [ 42 Cal.Rptr. 597 , 399 P.2d 53 ], as lineal issue of the testatrix, Doreen was a Class A transferee. We have concluded that pursuant to the subsequently enacted provisions of Revenue and Taxation Code section 13310, and other statutory Ms. Baumann’s status as a lineal descendant of the testatrix was severed by her adoption by her stepfather long before she became an adult. The question is one of first impression.

The facts are not in dispute. The decedent, Zella Dennery, was the lineal paternal grandmother of Doreen Baumann. Zella Dennery died on July 15, 1974. By a will executed in April 1967, Ms. Dennery named Doreen as the residuary legatee of one-half of her estate. Doreen’s mother and decedent’s son were divorced while Doreen was a child. Subsequently, Doreen’s mother remarried and her second husband duly adopted Doreen, long before she became an adult and more than…