Hart v. Posey

By Judge James H. Haley, Jr.

On April 27, 1977, in Trimble v. Gordon, 430 U.S. 762, 52 L. Ed. 2d 31, 97 S. Ct. 1459 (1977), the United States Supreme Court held that a legitimacy distinction for intestate succession violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Such a distinction existed in then Virginia Code § 64.1-5, but “Trimble implicitly declared [that Code section] unconstitutional____” Marshall v. Bird, 230 Va. 89, 93, 334 S.E.2d 573, 576 (1985).

The issue here for resolution is whether Trimble v. Gordon should be granted retrospective…