Hood v. Todd

I respectfully dissent because the opinion of the majority is premised upon an ill-supported finding of testamentary intent based upon the faulty and perilous legal conclusion that the term “lawful,” when used to describe blood descendants named in a will, necessarily precludes biological children born out of wedlock.

As the majority sets forth, in this case the would-be biological child of the testator, Regina Gordon Todd, is attempting to obtain a child’s portion of the estate of the late John E. Buffington. Buffing-ton’s legitimate daughters, Beth Buffington Hood and Ginger Buffington…