Allen v. Wallis

Darrell Hickman, Justice.

This is an appeal from the Probate Court of Van Burén County, Arkansas, which found the appellants, the three children of Fletcher Haywood Allen, were not Allen’s legitimate children, and, therefore, not lawful heirs of Allen’s uncle, Wager Kirkwood, who died intestate in 1979. The judge held the appellee, Jean Wallis, to be the only legitimate child of Allen.

The probate judge based his decision on two erroneous premises: The first was that the appellants’ claim accrued before the law was changed allowing illegitimtes to inherit; the second error was holding that the…