MacCallum v. Seymour's Administrator

In this case, we are required to decide whether 15 V.S.A. § 448, which denies an adopted person’s right of inheritance from collateral kin, is constitutional. We conclude that the statute violates the common benefits provision of the Vermont Constitution, Chapter I, Article 7, and reverse the summary judgment granted by the Franklin Superior Court.

The parties are sisters. Plaintiff Gail MacCallum is the daughter of Anita Murphy Seymour and the adopted daughter of Richard Seymour, who married plaintiff’s mother after the death of plaintiff’s father. Plaintiff was adopted in 1952, when she was…