Can an adult adoptee inherit under a trust that includes “adopted children”? In the Matter of the 1979 Inter Vivos Trust of Alfred and Mary Sanzari, the New Jersey Appellate Division said no, unless the trust clearly shows that’s what the grantors intended.
Alfred and Mary Sanzari created two family trusts to benefit their son Ben and his descendants. The trust language defined “children” and “issue” to include legally adopted children.
Years later, Ben adopted Carl, the adult son of his second wife, Karina, when Carl was 18. Carl was adopted well after both Alfred and Mary had passed away. Carl and Ben argued that Carl should be included as a beneficiary of the trusts under the “adopted child” provisions.
The trusts didn’t specifically say whether an adult adoptee qualified as a beneficiary. So, the court had to consider the grantors’ probable intent and whether a catchall reference to adopted children should include someone adopted after age 18.
The Appellate Division upheld the trial court’s ruling that Carl was not a beneficiary. The stranger to the adoption doctrine creates a presumption that an adopted adult is excluded from class gifts unless there’s clear intent to include them. This presumption still applies in adult adoptions, even though it was abolished for minor adoptions. There was no evidence that Alfred or Mary knew Carl as family, much less intended for him to inherit. The adoption occurred years after both grantors had died.
The court noted that including adult adoptees could frustrate a trust’s purpose, especially where the trusts were designed to benefit blood relatives and their descendants. As the opinion put it, “[i]t is extremely unlikely that a testator would foresee the likelihood that a prospective beneficiary might at some time in the future adopt an adult.”
The Sanzari case is a reminder that language matters, and so does the timing and purpose of adoption. Families should review trust terms regularly and update them if family dynamics change.
