Estate of Burden
California Court of Appeal
53 Cal.Rptr.3d 390 (2007)
Gregory Burden fathered Dale (defendant) out of wedlock, proposing marriage to Dale's mother (which she refused) before later marrying someone else and having daughter Tara (plaintiff); Burden had only minimal direct contact with Dale but privately acknowledged a family resemblance and apologized to him for being an absent father, while Burden's own mother and siblings all knew and accepted Dale as his son, and Dale maintained a close relationship with that side of the family. In an email to his sister, Burden acknowledged fathering Dale but expressed no interest in a relationship with him or his children. After Burden died intestate, the trial court found clear and convincing evidence Burden had openly held Dale out as his son, awarding Dale half the estate; Tara appealed.
Whether a child born out of wedlock may inherit from the father by intestate succession where there is clear and convincing evidence that the father openly held out the child as his own.