Murray v. Murray

CLAYTON, Justice.

This appeal represents the culmination of nearly 10 years of litigation over the right of Hershell Belmont Murray, the natural but illegitimate son of the late Dr. Hershell B. Murray, to share in his father’s estate by virtue of either KRS 394.400 or 394.410, two of the so-called anti-lapse statutes.

The setting within which this controversy arose is as follows. Dr. Murray, a Morgan County physician, was killed in a boating accident on May 21, 1967. On April 22, 1968, Dr. Murray’s last will and testament was admitted to probate in the Morgan County Court. The will, dated…