Alvin Pinckney and Silas Knight, Plaintiffs v. Catherine C. Warren; Andrana Jenkins; Gilda Graham; Benjamin Fripp…

Summary

The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the Master-in-Equity’s order that Scrappy Pinckney, an illegitimate son, was not an heir at law of his father James Leonard Pinckney and therefore could not convey a valid interest in the estate to D& S. The Court applied the Mitchell requirements for conclusive paternity and held the birth certificate insufficient, upholding the retroactive limitation of Trimble’s equal‑protection rule.