after stating the above. The sole question before us, and the only one discussed in the opposing contentions of counsel is,, whether the adoption has the effect ascribed to it, and if so, whether the said Richard Taylor or King, can treat, asa nullity, the devise and bequest made to him, while illegitimate, and bring himself within the scope of the statute as if he were an after-born legitimate child of the testator, unprovided for.
The statute which authorises the proceeding for the.legitimation of children born and begotten out of wedlock, by the putative parent, establishes their.personal relations and con*146fers a capacity to inherit and share in the distribution of the personal estate, and this is in the form, of the decree.
It declares such adoption, when for life, shall have the effect “if the petitioner die intestate, to enable such child to inherit the real estate and entitle it to the personal estate,” as if such child had been legitimate at its birth. Section 3 of ch. 1.
Language almost identical is employed in chapter 9, sec don 8, in describing the consequences of legitimation.
It shall “ impose upon ihe father all-the obligations which fathers owe to their lawful children,” and it shall enable the child to inherit from the father only his real estate, and also “ entitle such child to the personal estate of his father ” in the same manner as if such child “had been born in lawful wedlock.”
These provisions obviously look to an intestac}', and have no reference to eases in which property is disposed of by will.
But the appellant invokes the aid of the statute which admits to a share of the testator’s estate an after-born child who has not been provided for in the will, treating adoption as a legal birth, and rejecting the gifts in the will because they are bestowed on a stranger and not on the testator’s own offspring, and hence it is urged they are not a. provision for a child.
The argument is unsubstantial, and we cannot give it our approval. The devise and bequest are personal to the infant, and are no less his because of his adoption and change of name. His identity remains, and he may claim the land and money just as much as if the action in regard to his adoption had not taken place. He is not therefore in the condition of a child unprovided for, and, if permitted to claim under this enactment, he would occupy a better position than a lawful after-born child, since he could thus take the benefit of the provision in the will on his be*147half and share also in the rest of the estate. Neither is this a case of election, since, if provided for at all, he-is excluded from the rest of the testator’s estate. It savors of refinement to say that, as legitimate, he sets aside the will pro tanto, and, as illegitimate, he accepts what is given to him in it, thus presenting himself in a double- aspect towards the estate.
Again, the argument is pressed that the “ provision ” was intended to be substantial and bear some proportion to the value of the estate, and not as in this case, the testator’s estate being large and valuable, illusory merely.
We cannot undertake, when any provision is made, to say that it is inadequate, since of this the testator must be the judge, and the statute comes in only when no provision at all has been made.
This construction is put upon the statute in Meares v. Meares, 4 Ired., 192, cited by counsel, in which RuítiN, C. J., says: “The statute only provides for a case where the parent dies without having made provision for the child; which méans, without having made any provision. For the act does not mean to judge between the parent and child as to the adequacy of the provision he may choose to make; but only to supply his accidental omission to make any, and, in doing that, the rules of the statute of distributions and descents are adopted, because there is no other.
It may be further observed that the testator, having made his will, chose to let it remain as it was previous to the adoption of his natural as his lawful son, while, if disposed, he would at any time have made alterations and more liberal provisions for the beneficiary, but he has seen fit to let it speak his intentions concerning the disposal of his large estate down to his death, and so it must stand and be administered in the form in which it came from his hands.
We have.avoided the expression of an opinion as to the effect of legitimation, whether as operating on the parental *148relation thereafter, or as producing the same effect upon the infant’s status as if he had been born in wedlock, the statute operating retrospectively also; because the decision of the point is not necessary in passing upon the matter presented in the appeal. '
The counsel have been able to furnish us with no adjudication, nor have we been able to find one bearing upon the point discussed, and we have without such aid placed wdiat seems to us a fair and reasonable construction upon the statute.
There is no error, and as the details of the account which it may become necessary to state in the distribution of the estate in the ■ executor’s hands can be more conveniently managed in the c&urt below, the- cause will be remanded, and it is so ordered.
No error. Affirmed and remanded.