Estate of Corcoran

7 Cal.App.4th 1099 (1992) 9 Cal. Rptr.2d 475 Estate of HAZEL MARIE CORCORAN, Deceased.

LILY PAPACEK, Petitioner and Appellant,

v.

THOMAS GAUGHAN, Claimant and Respondent.

Docket No. G011188. Court of Appeals of California, Fourth District, Division Three.

June 29, 1992. [1100] COUNSEL

Geller & Senter, Erika W. Senter and Norbert R. Bunt for Petitioner and Appellant.

Michael J. Peltin and Bernard Grossman for Claimant and Respondent.

[1101] OPINION

SILLS, P.J.

It is widely known that "where there is a will, there is a way." The laws of intestate succession, however, provide us a way even where there is no will. This appeal requires us to chart our "way," and presents an issue of first impression: Is a half sibling a "natural brother or sister" under Probate Code former section 6408.5, subdivision (c) (now § 6408, subd. (d))? If so, respondent Thomas Gaughan, the half brother of the decedent, along with the children of the decedent's half sister, is entitled to the estate of the decedent; if not, appellant Lily Papacek and nine other maternal cousins of decedent are the next in succession. The trial court held that the term "natural brother or sister" includes half siblings. We agree with the trial court, and affirm.

FACTS

The facts are not in dispute and can be easily summarized. The decedent, Hazel Marie Corcoran, died on July 30, 1989, and has no surviving spouse, parents, or children. She also left no valid will.[1] Hazel was born out of wedlock to Merle Campbell and Michael Gaughan in 1922. There was no evidence presented that Michael Gaughan ever acknowledged Hazel as his daughter. Hazel was raised by her mother, who died in 1982. Hazel's father married another woman in 1931 and had two children, Monica Gaughan and respondent Thomas Gaughan.