Kentucky under KRS 405.390 provides: 'An adult person * * * may be adopted in the same manner as provided by law for the adoption of a child and with the same legal effect * * *.' KRS 199.520 provides: 'From and after the date of the judgment the child shall be deemed the child of petitioners and shall be considered for purposes of inheritance and succession and for all other legal considerations, the natural, legitimate child of the parents adopting it the same as if born of their bodies.' The adoption of an adult for the purpose of making him an heir has been an accepted practice in law for many years. However, that the practice in its ancient form made the person so adopted the legal heir of the adopting party only.
In Woods v. Crump, 283 Ky. 675, 142 S.W.2d 680, a grantor by deed conveyed certain property to his daughter during her natural life then to her 'heirs' for the consideration of natural love and affection. The deed was executed in 1893. In 1933, approximately forty years after the execution of the deed and after the death of the grantor, the ...