## Facts

- Victor G. Huskea died intestate on March 9, 1977, and left no surviving spouse.
- Huskea was survived by fifteen cousins and by Paul Doody, Huskea’s biological son.
- Paul Doody was born in Massachusetts on March 15, 1937.
- In 1941, Paul was adopted in Massachusetts by his stepfather, Daniel J. Doody.
- At the time of Paul’s birth and adoption, both Massachusetts and Florida law allowed an adopted child to inherit intestate from a natural parent.
- Before Huskea’s death, Florida changed its intestacy law. Section 732.108(1), Florida Statutes, provided that for intestate succession an adopted person is a lineal descendant of the adopting parent and “is not a lineal descendant of his natural parents” and is not kindred of any member of the natural parent’s family.
- The personal representative of Huskea’s estate filed a petition in probate court to determine the estate’s beneficiaries.
- The probate court ruled that Paul could inherit as Huskea’s natural child, reasoning that applying the later statute would be an improper retrospective use of the law and relying in part on In re Levy’s Estate.
- The personal representative appealed the probate court’s determination.

## Issues

1. For Florida intestate succession, does the statute in effect at the decedent’s death (including § 732.108(1)) control whether a person adopted years earlier may inherit from a natural parent?
2. Is applying § 732.108(1) to bar inheritance by an adopted-out natural child an impermissible retrospective application when the adoption occurred under an earlier law allowing inheritance from the birth parent?

## Decision

- The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the probate court’s order.
- The court held that the decedent’s death is the event that vests intestate rights, so the governing law is the statute in effect on the date of death, not the statute in effect when the adoption occurred.
- Because § 732.108(1) was in effect when Huskea died, Paul Doody was not a lineal descendant of his natural father for intestate succession and therefore was not entitled to inherit from Huskea’s estate as an heir.

## Legal Principles

- Intestate succession rights do not vest until the decedent’s death; the intestacy statute in force at death governs heirship.
- Under § 732.108(1), Florida Statutes, an adopted person is treated as a lineal descendant and kindred of the adopting parent’s family and is not a lineal descendant or kindred of the natural parents’ family for intestate succession.
- Applying the statute in effect at death is not a barred retrospective use of the law because no right to inherit intestate exists before the death that triggers vesting.
- Where Florida authority is not directly on point, Florida courts may consider the majority approach from other jurisdictions on when intestacy rights vest and which statute controls.

## Conclusion

The appellate court ruled that Florida’s intestacy statute in effect when Victor Huskea died controlled distribution of his estate, and because § 732.108(1) severed intestate succession between an adoptee and the natural parent’s family, Paul Doody—though Huskea’s biological son—could not inherit intestate from Huskea.


Estate of Huskea v. Doody, 391 So. 2d 779 (1980)