Helms v. Young-Woodard

LEWIS, Judge.

The issue in this case is whether a foreign legitimation action must be initiated prior to the death of the alleged father for illegitimate children to inherit under North Carolina’s intestate succession laws.

The facts are not contested. Plaintiff-appellee, H. Parks Helms (administrator), is the duly qualified administrator of the estate of Jessie Hogan Jackson (decedent) who died intestate in Mecklen-burg County, North Carolina on 8 August 1988. The administrator filed a declaratory judgment action seeking to determine which of the four parties making claims against decedent’s…