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In re Estate of Seader9/23/2003
VOIGT, Justice, delivered the opinion of the Court; GOLDEN, Justice, filed a dissenting opinion with which HILL, Chief Justice, joined.
The district court refused to apply the doctrines of equitable adoption, adoption by estoppel, and virtual adoption to avoid the operation of the anti-lapse statute. The district court also concluded that the testator's will did not evidence an intention that the share of a predeceased devisee pass to that devisee's children. The devisee's children appealed. We affirm.
ISSUES
1. Whether the doctrines of equitable adoption, adoption by estoppel, and virtual adoption are available under Wyoming law to allow the descendents of a predeceased stepchild to be considered lineal descendents of their step-grandfather under the anti-lapse statute?
2. Whether the district court erred in concluding that the testator's will did not evidence an intention that the share of a predeceased devisee pass to that devisee's children?
FACTS
Julie L. Schroeder (Julie) was born on August 13, 1943 to Mary Allen Cirksana (Mary) and Louis Sylvester Burke. When Julie was two years old, Mary married Neil Adam Seader (Neil). At the time of the marriage, Neil agreed to adopt Julie. Over the years, Neil voiced his intention to adopt Julie, and he treated her as if she were his natural daughter. At one time, Mary and Neil discussed adoption with an attorney, but decided not to follow through because of the expense. Neil never did adopt Julie. Nevertheless, she used the surname "Seader" as a youth.
Neil and Mary had two sons, Neil J. Seader (Neil J.) and Charles Lee Seader (Charles). Mary died in 1966, leaving her entire estate to Neil. Julie had two children, Kim Sanderson (Kim) and Kirk Olive (Kirk). In his Last Will and Testament, dated August 30, 1996, after a few specific bequests, Neil left the residue of his estate to Neil J., Charles, and Julie. Julie died on May 7, 2000. Neil died on July 10, 2000.
Neil's will was admitted to probate on July 21, 2000. On May 2, 2001, the personal representative of the estate filed a Preliminary Report, Accounting and Petition for Distribution, in which he noted that Julie had predeceased Neil and he proposed distributing her one-third residuary interest to Kim and Kirk. Subsequently, Neil J. filed an Objection to Preliminary Report, Accounting and Petition for Distribution, in which he contended that the testamentary devise to Julie had failed pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. ยงยง 2-6-106 and 2-6-107 (LexisNexis 2003). Charles soon thereafter filed a similar objection. That was followed by a Petition for Declaration of Status as Beneficiaries of Estate filed by Kim and Kirk. Finally, Neil J. and Charles filed a Motion for Summary Judgment.
On February 22, 2002, the district court issued its Order Granting Summary Judgment. The district court concluded that the residuary devise to Julie failed because she predeceased Neil and she was not Neil's "grandparent" or a "lineal descendent" of Neil's grandparent, as required by the anti-lapse statute. The district court also held that Neil's will was clear and unambiguous and that it contained no indication that it was Neil's intention to have Kim and Kirk inherit their mother's share of the estate. Several months later, the Order Approving Accounting, and Decree of Distribution incorporated the provisions of the summary judgment order. This appeal followed.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
We recently reiterated our standard for review of summary judgments granted under W.R.C.P. 56:
When a motion for summary judgment is before this court, assuming there is a complete record,
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