In re Estate of Fusae Obata

The sole issue on appeal is whether California law recognizes the Japanese practice called (yoshi-engumi) as an "adoption" within the meaning of California Probate Code sections 6450 and 6451. 1 We conclude that it does and, thus, we shall affirm the trial court's order granting respondents' petitions for entitlement to estate distribution.

Factual and Procedural Background

The decedents, Fusae Obata and Emi Obata, are sisters who in June 2013 died intestate, having never been married and *547 with no descendants. In September 2013, letters of administration of the two estates were issued in the Alameda County Superior Court. Thereafter, a dispute arose regarding the line of succession that centered on the decedents' father, Tomejiro Obata, and the impact of his yoshi-engumi by Minejiro Obata and Kiku Obata in 1911. Appellants are the descendants of Tomejiro's biological parents, Hikozaemon Nakano and Haru Nakano, and respondents are the descendants of the Obata family.

Following a hearing in September 2016, the court found in favor of respondents, the Obata family members. The court concluded that California recognizes Tomejiro's yoshi-engumi as a legal adoption and that…