Section 2-111
No individual is disqualified to take as an heir because the individual or another individual through whom the individual claims is or has been an alien.
Comment
This section eliminates the ancient rule that an alien cannot acquire or transmit land by descent, a rule based on the feudal notions of the obligations of the tenant to the King. Although there never was a corresponding rule as to personality, the present section is phrased in light of the basic premise of the Code that distinctions between real and personal property should be abolished.
This section has broader vitality in light of the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Zschernig v. Miller, 88 S.Ct.664, 389 U.S. 429, 19 L.Ed.2d 683 (1968), holding unconstitutional a state statute providing for escheat if a nonresident alien cannot meet three requirements: the existence of a reciprocal right of a United States citizen to take property on the same terms as a citizen or inhabitant of the foreign country, the right of United States citizens to receive payment here of funds from estates in the foreign country, and the right of the foreign heirs to receive the proceeds of the local estate without confiscation by the foreign government. The rationale was that such a statue involved the local probate court in matters which essentially involve United States foreign policy, whether or not there is a governing treaty with the foreign country. Hence, the statute is “an intrusion by the State into the field of foreign affairs which the Constitution entrusts to the President and the Congress”.
Massachusetts comment
See [former] G.L. c. 206, section 27A, permitting the court to require a person who resides outside the United States to appear in person to claim a legacy or distributive share where there are questions as to the person's identity, right, and opportunity to receive such funds; and [former] G.L. c. 206, section 27B, permitting the court, if it is not assured that a person domiciled outside the United State will receive a legacy or distributive share in substantially full value, to order that payment be made in the form of necessaries of life, food, clothing and medicine, delivered through a recognized public or private agency.