Chambers v. Chamber

398 S.E.2d 200 (1990)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P's natural mother, who at the time of P's birth was in a mental institution, had given her consent that a certain Jones County couple, who desired to adopt P, be allowed to do so. However, upon discovering that the wife of the couple was terminally ill, the couple turned P over to the Jones County Department of Public Welfare. P was eventually placed in the home of the deceased, who raised P from infancy, calling him Pete Carlton Chambers rather than by his given name. In 1978, a petition was filed seeking to have P's name legally changed to Pete Carlton Chambers. The petition specifically stated that the deceased was not adopting P. If the deceased would have adopted she would stop getting a stipend for being P's foster parent. P filed a petition in equity seeking to establish and enforce his right to share in the intestate estate of Ethel Louise Chambers, deceased, contending that the deceased had virtually adopted him and, therefore, appellant was an heir-at-law of the deceased. H filed a motion for partial summary judgment accompanied by the affidavit of P's natural mother wherein she stated that she had never surrendered her parental rights to P, that her parental rights had not been terminated and that she had not given her consent for the deceased to adopt P. The trial court granted summary judgment to H. P appealed.