IBM Heiress Adopts Her Lover. As A “Grandchild,” Does She Inherit?

So it’s 1978, and two women meet in California and fall in love. They move to New York, where they live together for a number of years. Since they are not allowed to marry in New York, in 1991, they go to Maine, where Ms. Watson, the IBM heiress, legally adopts Ms. Spado, her lover.

Ms. Watson’s parents died in 1993 and 1994, leaving trusts (being administered in Connecticut) – for their grandchildren. As a grandchild, Ms. Spado asked the trustees for her share. The trustees said #&%$@!, and %*$#@%@!, then asked the court in Connecticut to declare that Ms. Spado was not entitled to share in the trusts. The Connecticut court agreed. Ms. Spado has appealed that decision.

Meanwhile, in Maine, the trustees asked that the entire adoption be declared invalid. The court agreed. But when Ms. Spado appealed that decision to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, they sent the case back (in January 2007) … to the same Judge who originally granted the adoption!

Click here to read an article describing the situation in greater detail.