Elliott v. Hiddleson

McCORMICK, Justice.

The question in this partition action concerns the right of an adopted child to take under the will of a stranger to the adoption. Applying the “stranger to the adoption” rule, the trial court held that plaintiff Judith Elliott was not a lineal heir of her adopting mother within the terms of her adoptive grandfather’s will. Because we reject the rule and the conclusion, we reverse and remand.

Plaintiff sought partition of 160 acres of Dallas County farmland in which she alleged an undivided one-eighth interest. Defendants are the seven natural grandchildren of S. B. Doidge.…