## Facts

- Basil Campbell, born enslaved in Missouri, formed a relationship with Mary Stephens while enslaved and had two sons, G. Wyatt Wheeler and John W. Wheeler.
- The union was based on enslaved-person custom and owner permission rather than a civil marriage recognized by statute.
- In 1854 Campbell was forcibly removed to California, permanently separating him from Mary and the sons.
- Campbell later obtained freedom, married in California under legally recognized forms, adopted his wife’s children, and accumulated substantial property.
- After Campbell’s death, Wyatt and John petitioned in California probate proceedings to be declared heirs as Campbell’s legitimate children from the Missouri union.
- The probate court denied the petition, finding no legally valid marriage and no statutory acknowledgment by Campbell that would permit inheritance by children born outside wedlock.
- Wyatt and John appealed from the order denying heirship.

## Issues

1. Whether a union formed between enslaved persons in Missouri could be treated as a legally valid marriage for California intestate succession.
2. Whether, if no valid marriage existed, alleged biological children could inherit from the father absent the statutory form of acknowledgment required for children born outside wedlock.

## Decision

- The appellate court affirmed the probate court’s order denying heirship.
- The court held the Missouri slave union was not a legally cognizable marriage for purposes of inheritance.
- The court held the petitioners could not inherit as children born outside wedlock because Campbell did not acknowledge them in the manner required by California statute (notably, by written acknowledgment).

## Legal Principles

- Intestate succession based on legitimacy requires a valid marriage cognizable under applicable law; relationships formed without legal capacity to marry do not create marital status for inheritance.
- Under then-existing California law, a child born outside wedlock could inherit from the father only upon compliance with statutory legitimation or acknowledgment requirements, commonly requiring written acknowledgment by the father.
- Proof of biological paternity alone, without a valid parental marriage or statutory acknowledgment, does not confer inheritance rights from the father.

## Conclusion

The court denied the petitioners’ claim to heirship because the earlier Missouri slave union did not constitute a valid marriage for California intestacy purposes and, without statutory written acknowledgment by the decedent, the petitioners could not inherit as children born outside wedlock.


In re Campbell's Estate, 12 Cal. App. 707 (Cal. Ct. App. 1910)