## Facts

- Myrna L. Thiemann died intestate in Missouri.
- Thiemann left no surviving spouse, descendants, parents, or siblings.
- Thiemann’s closest surviving relatives were three maternal aunts, all in the same degree of kinship to Thiemann.
- Eleanor M. Woodside was a maternal aunt of the whole blood: she shared both parents with Thiemann’s mother.
- Marcella M. Will and Martha M. Hyatt were maternal aunts of the half blood: each shared only a father with Thiemann’s mother.
- In the proceeding to determine heirship and distribution, Woodside argued that Missouri’s half-blood statute required her to take twice as much as each half-blood aunt.
- The trial court ordered an equal division, awarding each aunt a one-third share, reasoning (among other things) that the half-blood statute applied only to distributions among the decedent’s siblings.
- Woodside appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Missouri’s half-blood statute applies to collateral heirs more remote than the decedent’s siblings, including aunts in the same degree of kinship.
2. If the half-blood statute applies, whether a whole-blood aunt takes a double share compared to half-blood aunts of the same degree in an intestate estate.

## Decision

- The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s equal one-third distribution.
- The court held that collateral heirs beyond the decedent’s siblings can be relatives “of the half blood” within the meaning of Missouri’s half-blood statute.
- Because all three heirs were aunts in the same degree, the half-blood statute governed how their shares were to be divided among them.
- The whole-blood aunt was entitled to twice the share of each half-blood aunt (resulting in Woodside receiving one-half of the estate and Will and Hyatt receiving one-quarter each).
- The case was remanded for distribution consistent with that ruling.

## Legal Principles

- Under Missouri intestacy law, once the heirs in the nearest eligible degree are identified, statutory rules determine the proportions each heir takes within that degree.
- Missouri’s half-blood statute is not limited to the decedent’s brothers and sisters; it applies to other collateral relatives (including aunts) when whole-blood and half-blood relatives compete within the same degree of kinship.
- When the half-blood statute applies, a relative of the half blood takes half the share of a relative of the whole blood in the same degree.

## Conclusion

The appellate court held that Missouri’s half-blood statute applies to aunts as well as siblings, so the whole-blood aunt inherited a double portion compared to the half-blood aunts, requiring reversal of the trial court’s equal one-third distribution and remand for redistribution.


In re Estate of Thiemann, 992 S.W.2d 255 (1999)