## Facts

- Charles W. Smith died in 1992; a will was admitted to probate shortly after his death.
- Shirley I. Scruggs, age 60, alleged she was Smith’s natural daughter and would inherit by intestacy if the will were revoked.
- Scruggs filed a probate petition seeking revocation of probate and related relief, alleging lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence and asserting heirship based on paternity.
- The trial court dismissed her claim as time-barred under Florida’s four-year statute of limitations for “an action relating to the determination of paternity,” measured from the child reaching majority.
- The First District Court of Appeal reversed, concluding the limitations statute did not bar a probate paternity determination for intestate succession and stating that applying the limitations period would violate constitutional equal protection and access-to-courts guarantees.
- The Florida Supreme Court accepted review due to conflict with another district court decision and because the appellate decision declared a statute invalid.

## Issues

1. Whether Florida’s four-year limitations period for an action relating to paternity applies when paternity is asserted in a probate proceeding to establish intestate heirship.
2. Whether applying that limitations period to bar an adult claimant’s probate paternity claim violates state or federal constitutional protections for equal protection and access to courts.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court reversed the district court and approved the conflicting district court decision that applied the limitations period.
- The Court held the four-year statute of limitations governing actions relating to paternity applies to paternity determinations sought in probate for intestate succession.
- The Court held that applying the limitations period in this setting does not violate equal protection or Florida’s access-to-courts provision.
- The dismissal of Scruggs’s paternity-based heirship claim as time-barred was reinstated.

## Legal Principles

- A claim seeking to establish biological fatherhood for inheritance purposes is an “action relating to the determination of paternity” even when raised within probate.
- A statute authorizing adjudication of paternity “before or after the death of the father” for intestate succession does not eliminate otherwise applicable limitation periods on paternity actions.
- Statutes of limitations may reasonably restrict the time for asserting paternity-based inheritance claims to protect finality and orderly estate administration.
- Applying a uniform limitations period to paternity actions, including those asserted for inheritance, does not necessarily violate equal protection or access-to-courts guarantees when a reasonable opportunity to sue exists.

## Conclusion

The court held that an adult claimant cannot establish paternity in probate for intestate succession outside the four-year post-majority limitations period, and that enforcing this bar is constitutional.


In re Estate of Smith, 685 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 1996)