## Facts

- Barbara Ann Newton Lankford was born in 1944 to Mary M. Winebarger.
- As a child, Winebarger and neighbors Clarence and Lula Newton allegedly agreed that the Newtons would adopt and raise Lankford as their child.
- Lankford moved into the Newtons’ home and was known in the community as “Barbara Ann Newton,” described as the Newtons’ only child.
- School records and a high-school diploma used the name “Barbara Ann Newton” and listed Clarence and Lula Newton as her parents.
- Clarence Newton’s obituary listed Lankford as his surviving daughter.
- With Lula Newton’s help, Lankford obtained a Social Security card in the name “Barbara Ann Newton.”
- After Lankford entered the Navy, she and Lula exchanged letters referring to each other as mother and daughter.
- Lula opened bank accounts with Lankford and deposited money Lankford sent while in the Navy; Lankford also took leave to care for Lula during illness.
- In 1975, Lula executed a will naming Lankford co-executrix and making specific bequests to her.
- Lula died in 1994, but the will was not admitted to probate due to defacement, and Lula was treated as having died intestate.
- Lankford filed a declaratory judgment action seeking recognition as an heir of Lula’s intestate estate based on equitable adoption.

## Issues

1. Whether North Carolina recognizes the doctrine of equitable adoption for inheritance purposes.
2. If recognized, whether Lankford’s evidence of an agreement to adopt and performance created a genuine issue of material fact precluding summary judgment.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of North Carolina recognized equitable adoption as a doctrine available in the inheritance context.
- The court held that Lankford’s evidence could support findings of a contract to adopt and substantial performance, creating genuine issues of material fact.
- The court reversed the grant of summary judgment and remanded for further proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- Equitable adoption may be applied to permit inheritance where a decedent agreed to adopt a child, the child substantially performed as a child of the decedent, and statutory adoption was not completed through no fault of the child.
- Equitable adoption is an equitable remedy used most often to prevent unjust results in succession; it does not confer a statutory parent-child status for all purposes.
- Summary judgment is improper when evidence, viewed favorably to the nonmovant, permits competing inferences on material facts such as the existence and performance of a contract to adopt.

## Conclusion

North Carolina recognized equitable adoption and held that evidence of an agreement for the Newtons to adopt Lankford, along with decades of treating her as their daughter, was sufficient to require fact-finding on whether she could inherit from Lula Newton’s intestate estate.


Lankford v. Wright, 489 S.E.2d 604 (N.C. 1997)