In re Estate of Magofna

Summary

The CNMI Supreme Court addressed whether two claimants could inherit from the intestate estate of Anunciacion Magofna ('Asako') as children customarily adopted through the Chamorro practice of poksai. The court held that a decedent's own statutory adoption of a child is a departure from custom, so Annette P. Cruz — statutorily adopted by Asako, with that adoption ending at age seventeen — could not become a pineksai and is not an heir. By contrast, Dolores Sablan Mendiola-Aldan's prior statutory adoption by other parents and her prior pineksai claim as to Asako's sister did not bar her customary adoption by Asako, so her heirship was affirmed, as were the findings that no will, partida, or testamento existed. The court also announced a non-exhaustive seven-factor test for poksai adoptions.