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A boy who's father gave up rights to was adopted by another man at age 6. The father asked the boy if he wanted to take on another name the boy said yes so the father gave up rights. Both the bio father and the step father have lots of money. The bio father is from New York and the Step father is from Louisiana. The bio father never remarried or had any more children. The stepfather who married the boys mother had 3 kids with her who are now also grown. From what i am gathering the stepkid is entitiled to zero inheritence from either father. The bio father gave up rights and the step father only wants to give his real kids everything so the step kid thinks the step father took him out of the will. Is the step kid really screwed here with regards to an inheritence?
I think so in the case of the stepfather, basically, a person can choose to give their inheritance to anyone that want to and exclude anyone they want to.
First forget the stepfather business. As soon as he adopted the child he became his legal father to all intents and purposes. At worst he can be referred to as an adoptive father but not a stepfather. But even that doesn't matter when it comes to inheritance. A person can leave their estate to ANYONE they want. They are free to disinherit and of their children whether natural or adopted. While I find it reprehensible to disinherit an adopted child just because he's adopted, he does have the right. However, if the father dies without a will, then the adopted child would be entitled to a share equal to any of the natural children who are legally his siblings.
As for the bio father, when he relinquish his rights he severed ALL ties with the child. The child no longer has any claim on his estate. This does not mean the bio father can't remember him in his will. But the child would have no grounds for contesting the will or putting a claim on the estate.
As both Charlotte and I said, there is NO requirement that anyone (spouse. children or other relatives) be mentioned in a will. A person is allowed to include or not include behests for anyone they desire. The only time a relative would be legally entitiled to a share would be if there was no will.
So, you want to disinherit someone, do you? Well, that may or may not be easy to do, depending on who you are trying to disinherit. If it’s not your spouse or child, simply don’t mention the person in your will.
However, if you are trying to disinherit a spouse or child, you are going to run into some difficulties. First off, you may be unable to disinherit your spouse at all. In many states, what is yours is also your spouses – he or she owns half of what you own in community property states, though you can certainly leave your half of the property and estate to someone else.
If you don’t live in a community property state, then your spouse does not legally own half of what is yours. However, the laws in those states say that your spouse has a legal right to a portion of your estate even if he or she is not named in the will, assuming, of course, that your spouse challenges the will.
Here’s an example. Many states state that the spouse is entitled to one-third of your estate. If you die without naming your spouse in your will, he or she will automatically receive half or your estate. If you leave a will, and only leave your spouse, say, one-fifth of your estate, he or she can challenge the will to get what is legally his or hers – the one-third (or one-half, depending on the state).
As for a child, you can disinherit him or her if you specifically state that you are leaving the child out of the will. If you fail to mention the child at all, many state laws assume you forgot and simply grant that child his or her share. If this situation applies to you, I assume that your child did something terribly wrong to deserve disinheritance. Wills - Disinheritances
This doesn’t happen very often, to be honest. When it does, it’s usually by someone who feels cheated out of his or her share of the will. However, legally, only a spouse is entitled to a specific share. So, to successfully challenge a will, it does little good to argue that the person making out the will made a mistake or cheated you. Instead, your best shot is to challenge the validity of the will, i.e. arguing the signature was forged, that the person making out the will was not of a sound mind, or that he or she was coerced or unduly persuaded by someone else. Wills - Challenging a Will
Quote:
Louisiana
Adoption
Intestate Inheritance Rights for Adopted Children
To better understand this issue and to view it across States, see the Intestate Inheritance Rights for Adopted Children: Summary of State Laws (PDF - 246 KB) publication.
Birth Parents in Relation to Adopted Person
Citation: Ch. Code Art. 1240; 1256(C)
Upon adoption, the birth parent and relatives of the adopted person are relieved of all of their legal duties and divested of all of their legal rights with regard to the adopted person, including the right of inheritance from the adopted person.
The right of the child to inherit from his or her parents and other birth relatives is unaffected by the adoption.
If the adoptive parent is married to a birth parent of the adopted child, the relationship of that birth parent and his or her blood relatives to the adopted child shall remain unaltered and unaffected by the adoption.
Adoptive Parents in Relation to Adopted Person
This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.
New York
Adoption
Intestate Inheritance Rights for Adopted Children
To better understand this issue and to view it across States, see the Intestate Inheritance Rights for Adopted Children: Summary of State Laws (PDF - 246 KB) publication.
Birth Parents in Relation to Adopted Person
Citation: Dom. Rel. Law § 117
The rights of an adoptive child to inheritance and succession from and through his birth parents shall terminate upon the making of the adoption decree; the rights of the birth parents over such adoptive child or to his property by descent or succession will also cease.
Adoptive Parents in Relation to Adopted Person
Citation: Dom. Rel. Law § 117
The adoptive parent and the adopted child shall sustain toward each other the legal relation of parent and child and shall have all the rights and be subject to all the duties of that relation, including the rights of inheritance from and through each other. http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwi....processSearch
However, on an attorney's website from New York, I found this:
Quote:
Under what circumstances can an adopted child inherit from a parent when the parent left no will?
Adopted children are considered children of their adopted parents for purposes of inheriting from an estate where there was no will. Adopted children can only inherit from the child`s natural parents` estate when the natural parent left no will, under the following circumstances: (1) The natural parent and adopted child lived together at any time as parent and child or the natural parent was married to or lived with the other natural parent and then died before the adopted child`s birth. (2) The adopted child was adopted by either of the natural parents` spouses or after either of the natural parents had died. For more information as to whether a particular adopted person can inherit from a parent who left no will, please contact an attorney. Ronald Fatoullah: New York Elder Attorney, Estate Planning, Asset Protection, Wills, Trusts
My advice would be, when the time comes, seek a consult from an attorney that deals with such matters.
As both Charlotte and I said, there is NO requirement that anyone (spouse. children or other relatives) be mentioned in a will. A person is allowed to include or not include behests for anyone they desire. The only time a relative would be legally entitiled to a share would be if there was no will.
There may not be a requirement to mention any specific person in the will, but in some states it doesn't matter whether you include your spouse or not. They are automatically entitled to a portion of your estate, will or no will.
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