Kummer v. Donak
Supreme Court of Virginia
282 Va. 301 (2011)
Virginia resident Justine Critzer died intestate without a spouse, parent, or living child, and estate administratrix Nancy Donak (plaintiff) initially determined Critzer's closest blood relatives were the three children of her deceased biological sister, Mary Frances Kummer (the Kummer children, defendants), and a circuit court established them as sole beneficiaries. Donak then discovered Mrs. Kummer had been adopted at age 53 by her husband's aunt, and moved the circuit court to determine the effect of that adoption on the estate's distribution; after a hearing, the court held the Kummer children were not legal heirs, and they appealed.
Whether the adoption of an adult terminates the right of the adoptee's children to inherit from an intestate decedent who was biologically related to the adoptee.