Goodman is a Houston native and heir to the late Harold Goodman, who founded Goodman Manufacturing, the second-biggest producer of air conditioning units in the country. He's also the founder of the Palm Beach International Polo Club and lives in neighboring Wellington, Fla.
He is facing a huge payout in a lawsuit because according to authorities, he caused a fatal accident while allegedly driving drunk. I am NOT here to defend drunk driving or vehicular homicide.
In an unusual move that seems an attempt to shield some of his trust fund wealth from a potential civil verdict, Goodman has legally adopted his current girlfriend, 42-year-old Heather Hutchins. According to CBS 12 in Florida, by naming Hutchins as his child and heir, she is immediately eligible to one-third of his estate as she is over the trust maturation age of 35. Goodman has two other children (who live in Houston) but both of them are under 35.
The judge in the case wrote that "the events border on the surreal and take the court into a legal twilight zone." Strangely, adult adoption has been used before to benefit relationship partners, particularly by gay couples who can't legally marry or pass on their wealth without significant tax barriers.
The most famous case of an adult adopting a girlfriend for estate purposes is when Olive Watson, daughter of IBM founder Thomas Watson, legally adopted her lesbian partner Patricia Spado in 1991. The couple broke up a year after the adoption, but once Thomas Watson and his wife passed away, Spado claimed that she was entitled to a share in the estate as his legal grandchild. The Maine Supreme Court declared the adoption legal in 2009, but a probate court has declared that since Watson was not aware of the adoption at the time of his death, she should not inherit, but an appeal is still pending.
So now tongues are wagging with "eeew!" and "Isn't this incest?" No, it isn't incest biologically, nor sociologically (she did not grow up as his daughter), nor legally (at least not in Florida.) He is, according to authorities, responsible for what amounts to murder, and people are concerned about whether or not adopting his adult lover is incest?!? People need some priorities. An adult should be free to HAVE SEX with ANY consenting adults (and for whatever reasons), including an adult he or she adopts.
If someone wants to reform some laws as a result of this move, they should reform the inheritance laws, not further criminalize sex between consenting adults. This negative fixation on the sex lives of others is ridiculous. Murdering someone is disgusting, not consensual sex.
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