Grand Island, NY (WIVB) – A young woman fights for answers after her life is turned upside down when she realizes that the man who raised her may not be a biological father. Instead, the results from Ancestry.com show that a local businessman who passed away in 2020 could become his father. Unrelated Manhattan family and marriage lawyers said they had never heard of a case like before.
“That could be a first impression case,” said Ankit Kapoor, founding partner at Cohen Stein Kapoor LLP’s law firm.
Jordan Tripuy, a native of Grand Island who now lives in Florida, said that when he thinks of his father, he portrays a hardworking blue-collar construction owner who always makes sure his family is caring for him.
“He removed all the barriers he could ever have so that I could pursue my fullest life,” Tripuy said.
Those loving memories live three years after he passed away. After a brief illness in the spring of 2022, he passed away the day after her wedding day.
“It shakes your whole world,” Tripuy said. “And I think the circumstances surrounding it have further shaken my world.”
These situations are the results of a DNA test on Ancestry.com.
“I was really interested in learning more about my family, origins, and the stories about my ancestors’ lives,” she said.
However, the results showed none of her father’s Italian and German heritage. It showed her mother’s roots.
“I thought it was a fluke,” Tripuy said. “We were all really similar [our mother’s] A part of our genetics. The number of times I got from my fellow students and peers was able to rely on my fingers and toes, saying, “You don’t see Italian at all.” ”
One of the strangest parts of the outcome was that two people on the Ancestry.com app she didn’t know about appeared as a small DNA match with her. She said their last name was McGuire.
A question that was built up in Tripuy’s mind a few months after his father passed away. She finally sat down with her mother to ask questions.
“She was shocked and confused by the outcome,” Tripuy said. “She was sure I belonged to my father.”
However, the last name jogged through the memories of another man in her mother. They realized that her dad was not her biological father.
“In many ways, this has been restarted… I’ve started the sadness process again,” she said.
He considers the man to be Frank McGuire, a local businessman who passed away in the summer of 2020.
“I would never know my biological daddy and he would never know me,” Tripuy said.
McGuire, chairman of the McGuire group, was 92 years old when he passed away. McGuire has built more than 30 businesses in western New York that employ 1,700 people, according to an obituary in Buffalo News.
“What he thinks is such a staple, the infamous man in Buffalo City, and she (my mother) never mentions him… I didn’t know that it had nothing to do with it.”
For two years, Tripi has fought to get a definitive answer about his biological father.
“At the age of 30, I found that all medical records that filled my family history were completely inaccurate,” Tripuy said. “A light note: The history project I did at Heathrow Elementary School was grossly inaccurate. In a deeper sense, I know our heritage, our ancestors, our ancestors, we came to – [it’s] It is important to the soul. ”
What Tripi wants now is for one of McGuire’s seven children to do DNA swabs and prove whether she is in fact their siblings.
A year ago, state representative court judge Acea Mosey decided in his favour of Tripi. However, McGuire’s brothers argued for privacy concerns. It is now being appealed.
Kapoor, a Manhattan lawyer, said he has not found such a case where his brother was forced to undergo DNA testing.
“DNA testing is definitely not uncommon in New York courts,” Kapoor said. “[But] In the case of Jordan Tripuy, where his brother was ordered to do a DNA test, I believe it may be the case for first impressions. I did not encounter any other cases where the brothers were ordered. The same twins of descendants were ordered…the grandparents of the incident were ordered…but the brothers could be something new. ”
Another issue is McGuire’s considerable real estate.
“When I think about his wealth, his empire facts, I am not assuming it is mine,” Tripuy said.
News 4 contacted an attorney for all Frank McGuire’s children. They issued a joint statement. “I am sure the family would have been more welcome, rather than submitting a request for money to “go” to the proxy court if Toribi expressed an interest in getting to know us. I was dragged out in this tawdry process. ”
In a court ruling a year ago, Judge Mosey said that challenge to Frank McGuire’s will would be a matter of another day. Kapoor said challenge to the will would be a difficult battle.
“One of the main things I noticed is that Frank McGuire’s will not give what he calls “class gifts” that he named his child of his will,” Kapoor said. “If his will tell his wife, “I’ll leave X, leave X, and leave the rest to my children,” he has more entitled to claim for profit than any child there. But when you name a child, you are limited to the child that is named… Generally speaking, there are a few exceptions. ”
Kapoor said that if Tripi wins the appeal and can prove that she is Frank McGuire’s daughter, she must try to negate his will if she wants a part of the pie. That would be difficult. Instead, there could be undefined assets she can kick out, such as life insurance or retirement accounts.
But Tripi screams, it’s not what this is.
“For those who assume I’m pursuing this because he’s a billionaire, it’s likely that they’re missing out on a piece about how I really want to know who my father is.”
