Reed v. Campbell, Individually and As Administratrix of the Estate of Ricker (476 U.S. 852)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 11, 1986 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 476 U.S. 852 · 106 S. Ct. 2234
- Decided
- June 11, 1986
- Term
- October Term 1985
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. Prince Ricker, appellant’s father, died intestate on December 22, 1976. At that time, § 38 of the Texas Probate Code provided that a decedent’s estate should descend to “his children and their descendants,” but §42 prohibited an illegitimate child from inheriting from her father unless her parents had subsequently married. In Trimble v. Gordon, 430 U. S. 762 (1977)—decided four months after Ricker’s death— we held that a total statutory disinheritance, from the paternal estate, of children born out of wedlock and not legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their parents is unconstitutional. In this case, the Texas Court of Appeals held that §42 of the Texas Probate Code nevertheless prevented appellant from sharing in her father’s estate because Trimble does not apply retroactively. The Texas Supreme Court refused appellant’s application of error, noting “no reversible error.” We noted probable jurisdiction, 474 U. S. 1018 (1985), and now reverse. I Only a few facts need be stated. In November 1957, Prince Ricker and appellant’s mother participated in a ceremonial marriage, but it was invalid because Ricker’s divorce from his first wife was not final. Appellant was born a year later. Ricker was lawfully married three times, once before and twice after his liaison with appellant’s mother. He was survived by five legitimate…
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