This is a petition by the administratrix of the estate of Ada Allard for instructions as to who are the proper next of kin of the decedent and entitled to distribution of her estate. The respondents named in the petition “represent various family groups of various relationships to [the] decedent.”
The case was heard on a statement of agreed facts. The judge entered a decree ordering “that the balance in said estate . . . should be paid in equal shares to Alma E. Bask Jonassen, Ingeborg B. Bask Pedersen and Karl V. Bask [three of the nine named respondents], children of said decedent’s mother.” The remaining six named respondents appealed from the decree.
Ada Allard died on December 31, 1957, intestate. The decedent married one Frederick Allard on May 4, 1907. He died on October 26, 1956. There is no record of any children ever having been born of this marriage. There is *749 no record of any other marriage of the decedent nor is there any record of any children being born to the decedent. She came to this country from Sweden as a “foster child” of Sven Olsson and Bina Lund. No “formal legal adoption” of the decedent was ever made by Sven Olsson and Bina Lund in Sweden. “Adoption records in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of Rhode Island and the State of New Hampshire reveal that no legal adoption was ever made of the decedent by Sven Olsson and Bina Lund in this country. ’ ’ The decedent was the daughter of Christina Basic and was born in Sweden on March 17, 1884. “There is no evidence that the decedent’s mother was married at the time of the birth of the decedent, nor is there any evidence that the decedent’s mother [was] ever married.” She was a daughter of the marriage of Samuel F. Bask and Fredrika Hammarlund, who had four other children, Johanna, Carl, Gustaf, and Adolf Bask, also known as Adolf Fait. Only Johanna and Adolf lived to maturity, and they both predeceased the decedent.
Adolf married one Anna Olsdotter on December 31,1893. Six children were born of this marriage, three of whom survived the decedent. These are Alice Fait Bondesson, Albin E. Fait, and Agda G. Fait Nelsson, maternal first cousins of the decedent and appellants herein.
Johanna married one Lars C. Pedersen on July 25, 1880. Three children were born of this marriage and all are still living. These children are Carl W. Pedersen, Ellen D. Pedersen, and Emanuel H. Pedersen, also appellants.
Christina Bask, mother of the decedent, gave birth to eight other children of whom three survived the decedent. They are Karl Vilhelm Bask, Ingeborg Beata Bask Peder-sen, and Alma E. Bask, the appellees. It has not been possible to determine who was the father of any of the children of the decedent’s mother.
The sole issue before us is whether the balance of the estate should be distributed to the intestate’s illegitimate brother and sisters, as ordered by the judge below, or to the intestate’s legitimate next of kin.
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The appellants contend and the appellees concede that at common law an illegitimate child could inherit from no one. This contention is historically correct.
Cooley
v.
Dewey,
General Laws c. 190, §§ 5 and 6, reads as follows: “5. An illegitimate child shall be heir of his mother and of any maternal ancestor, and the lawful issue of an illegitimate person shall represent such person and take by descent any estate which such person would have taken if living. ’ ’ “6. If an illegitimate child dies intestate and without issue who may lawfully inherit his estate, such estate shall descend to his mother or, if she is not living, to the persons who would have been entitled thereto by inheritance through his mother if he had been a legitimate child.” It is the appellants ’ contention that under c. 190, § 5, an illegitimate child can inherit only from his mother or a maternal ancestor in direct ascending line. In support of this proposition they cite
Pratt
v.
Atwood,
The legislative history of c. 190, § 6, contains nothing to resolve the issue. The appellants contend that ‘ ‘ [t]he deletion of the words ‘the heirs at law of his mother’ [the language used in a Senate version of what is now e. 190, § 6
2
] and the substitution therefor of ‘the persons who would have been entitled thereto by inheritance through his mother’ in House Bill No. 233
3
reveal the legislative intent.” They would have us infer that the “change evidences a recognition and intent on the part of the General Court that this section of the law should not provide for any distribution of the property of an intestate illegitimate to persons who would not otherwise have been qualified as heirs.” If we accept this part of the appellants’ reasoning, we would be compelled to conclude that neither they nor the appellees are entitled to the intestate property since neither would “otherwise have been qualified as heirs” at common law.
Cooley
v.
Dewey,
Whatever specific purposes may be ascribed to G. L. c. 190, § 6, it seems clear that its general purpose was to overrule in part the harsh common law distinctions between the rights of legitimate and illegitimate persons. See
Houghton
v.
Dickinson,
We are of opinion that on the plain language of G. L. c. 190, §§ 5 and 6, the appellants are not entitled to prevail. Chapter 190, § 5, says that an “illegitimate child shall be [the] heir of his mother.” As heirs, illegitimate children are persons entitled to inherit from illegitimate sisters and brothers by inheritance through.their mother within the language of G. L. c. 190, § 6. This definition of “through” is consistent with that given in
Phelan
v.
Conron,
The appellants argue that since this statute is in derogation of the common law it is “ to be strictly construed and . . . [its] scope and application strictly limited.” The purpose of this statute, however, is to ameliorate the very rule which the appellants want us to apply. “If the statute, because it modifies the common law, is to be strictly construed, yet the construction adopted should advance, rather than defeat, the purpose of the Legislature.” Houghton v. Dickinson, supra, 391.
The appellants maintain that this reading of c. 190, § 6, “would give greater rights of inheritance to an illegitimate when inheriting from another illegitimate than he would have when inheriting from a legitimate person.” As long as the common law rule survives, even as modified by statute, this contention is undoubtedly correct. Nevertheless, we believe that our construction of the statute is in keeping with the modern concept of justice and achieves a far more equitable result than a contrary interpretation would accomplish.
Accordingly, we hold that under the laws of descent and distribution, the decedent’s heirs are her illegitimate brother and sisters. Costs and expenses of appeal are to be in the discretion of the Probate Court.
Decree affirmed.