Each year in Wisconsin there are in excess of 1200 adoptions. In every one of these cases, important and intricate legal questions may potentially arise. These concern, not only the rights of the adoptive child to inherit from the adoptive and natural parents and the kindred of both, but also the rights of the adoptive and natural parents and their kindred to inherit from the adopted child. In spite of the importance of having such potential legal rights clearly and unmistakably defined, there appears to be uncertainty with respect to some of such rights. This is evidenced by the large number of cases which have reached the Supreme Court in an attempt to establish such rights; and also by the fact that the legislature has in recent years frequently revised and re-written the adoption law. Moreover, within recent months the Supreme Court has in two cases, Estate of Holcombe' and Estate of Ries, construed the most recent revision of the adoption statute; and in the latter of these cases, the court expressed doubt as to the meaning of some parts of the law.
The purpose of this article is to examine the cases and the changes made by the legislature in the adoption statute in an effort to arrive at a summary of the status of the testamentary and inheritance rights of, and from, adopted children.
