Adult Adoption : Follow up
Just when you thought it was safe to adopt your girlfriend to keep control of a large chunk of your irrevocable trust…
Last week I discussed some of the legal ramifications of adopting an adult, specifically a paramour. While you were reading this blog and pondering how it could be so, attorneys somewhere in the Everglade State were busy preparing to argue to a judge that Goodman’s legal maneuvering violated public policy (a formal way of saying it was an abuse of the law).
Legal analysts are saying the challenges to the adoption will likely succeed. The media attention, the common sense rationale that this is not what the adoption law was designed for, and most importantly the fact the children were never given any kind of notice regarding the addition of a “sister” to the trust of which they are the beneficiaries, all combine to make it unlikely Mr. Goodman will succeed. Legal notice is a critical first step on just about any procedural journey, and without it, the trip will likely be cancelled, even if you are already on your way.
So Mr. Goodman has gone from a legal suit with William and Lili Wilson for up to $100 million for the wrongful death of their son, to facing that battle plus challenges from the Guardian Ad Litem’s office aimed at invalidating his adoption.
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