Maine’s highest court upholds IBM heir’s adoption of lover
By APFriday, July 24, 2009
Maine court upholds IBM heir’s adoption of lover
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s highest court has given a legal victory to a woman who stands to stake a claim to a share of one of America’s premier business fortunes thanks to her adoption by her lesbian partner.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday overturned a 2008 lower court decision that annulled the adoption.
At issue was whether it was legal for a judge to allow Olive Watson to adopt Patricia Spado in 1991 in Knox County, where the longtime partners spent several weeks each summer on North Haven. Watson was the daughter of the late Thomas Watson Jr., who built IBM into a computer giant.
The relationship ended a year after the adoption. Thomas Watson’s heirs challenged the adoption in court in 2005.
Lawyers say the case now moves to a Connecticut probate court to determine if Spado is entitled to any of the family trust.
