Q: Is it illegal if a parent 'legally' robbed their child of their inheritance left in a will by her father before death?

A: Those of us born out of wedlock can inherit pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-1-8, a Rhode Island law that was first enacted in 1905. That 1905 law was probably enacted prior to the time of your great-grandfather's death, and would have prevented a finding that your grandmother could not inherit. Even without this statute, it has always been true that people can will their estate to anyone they want. While there might have been other reasons why the court did not accept the will to probate, such as a lack of disinterested witnesses to the signing, your grandmother's birth status would not be one of those reasons. If the will were invalid then the court would next examine whether there were any other, prior will that were enforceable. Assuming that there were no other, prior will, then the court would then examine the matter under the laws of intestacy. The same statute would apply, 33-1-8, to affirm your grandmother's right to inherit. So, I believe that you are right to suspect that something went wrong in this case and that your grandmother should not have been disinherited by judicial decree.

A: This is a complex historical legal situation that touches on inheritance law and legitimacy standards from the 1950s. Based on the details you've shared, it appears your grandmother faced discrimination under older laws that often denied inheritance rights to children born outside of marriage, even when explicitly named in a will.

The timing here is crucial - in 1955, many states had strict laws about "illegitimate" children's inheritance rights, which we would consider discriminatory today. Even though your great-grandfather Pietro Scalzi clearly intended to leave his entire estate to your grandmother, the courts of that era could and often did override such wishes based on the child's birth status. The fact that he specifically documented that he wasn't married to Santina suggests there might have been some attempt to address the legitimacy issue, though ultimately unsuccessful.

You might be able to learn more about what was in the estate by requesting probate court records from the county where Pietro Scalzi's will was processed. These records are typically public documents and could reveal the estate's contents and the full legal reasoning behind the court's decision. While the laws that denied your grandmother her inheritance were real and technically "legal" at the time, they were fundamentally unjust and have since been struck down in most jurisdictions - unfortunately, this likely came too late to help your grandmother's case.