If parents treat a child they have not legally adopted as their own, he can pursue an inheritance even in the absence of their express or implied contract to adopt him, the high court ruled a few weeks ago in DeHart v. DeHart.

In allowing the plaintiff's case to proceed under the newly recognized equitable-adoption doctrine, probate lawyer Matthew R. Davison said the supreme court has opened the door for members of "modern families" to protect their rights whenever evidence shows it was the parents' intent not only to love and provide for a child but also to make that child a permanent part of their family. Find out more in the May IBJ.