(294)


Ch    4]  TITLE   BY   DESCENT.  §  41

not  assented  to  the  adoption,  though  the  act  might  not  be  void  al-
together, yet  it  will  not  diminish  the  widow's  descendible  share.*^^
A  state  which  provides  by  its  own  laws  for  adoption  considers  the
condition  of  a  child  adopted  anywhere  as  a  status  known  to  its  laws,
and  will  allow  such  child  to  inherit  land  situate  within  it  to  the  same
extent  as  if  such  child  had  gone  through  the  process  of  adoption  un-
der its  own  laws.^*®

The  land  lawyer  is  interested  in  knowing  how  far  a  defect  in  the
judicial  proceedings,  or  in  the  execution  of  the  deed,  will  render  the
adoption  void,  so  that  it  may  fail  to  give  inheritable  capacity.  Where
proceedings  in  court  are  required,  the  person  or  persons  wishing  to
become  adopters  are  the  petitioners;  and  other  persons,  generally
the  parents  of  the  child,  if  not  at  hand  and  willing  to  consent,  must
be  notified.  The  failure  to  notify  them  in  the  manner  pointed  out
by  law  would,  on  general  principles,  render  the  judgment  or  decree
void.^^*  But  a  defect  rendering  it  only  voidable  could  not  be  invoked
by  the  heirs  of  the  adopter  to  the  injury  of  the  adopted  child.^^®
The  jurisdiction  to  declare  one  person  the  child  of  another,  not  his
parent,  is  so  foreign  to  the  course  of  the  common  law  that  it  has
been  narrowly  w^atched.  The  proceedings  should  show  that  the  dom-
icile of  the  parties  is  such  as  the  law  demands,  and,  unless  the  stat-
ute indicates  another  intention,  it  will  hardly  be  interpreted  as  allow-
'  ing  nonresidents  of  the  state  to  apply  under  it  for  leave  to  adopt.* '^^

227  Stanley  v.  Caiandler,  53  Vt.  619.  See  In  re  Rowen'g  Estate,  132  Pa.  St.
