Legal Definitions - Omitted Child Statutes

An Omitted Child Statute is a law designed to protect children who were unintentionally left out of a parent's will. Generally, if a parent decides to exclude a child from their will, that child has no legal right to inherit from the estate. However, these statutes create an exception for children who were born or adopted after the parent's will was created and who were not mentioned in the will.

The law presumes that the parent would have wanted to include this child in their will and simply forgot or did not have the opportunity to update it after the child's arrival. It applies only when the omission appears to be an oversight, not an intentional decision to disinherit the child.

• Example 1: Birth After Will Creation

  Mark and Sarah create a will leaving all their assets to each other, and then to their existing two children, Emily and David. A year later, they have a third child, Lily. Tragically, Mark and Sarah die in an accident before they have a chance to update their will to include Lily.

  How it illustrates the term: Under an Omitted Child Statute, Lily, as a child born after the will was executed and not mentioned in it, would likely be able to claim a share of her parents' estate. The law presumes Mark and Sarah would have wanted to provide for Lily just as they did for Emily and David, and her omission was an oversight, not an intentional act of disinheritance.

• Example 2: Adoption After Will Creation

  Elena, a single woman, drafts a will leaving her entire estate to her beloved niece, Clara. Two years later, Elena decides to adopt a child, Leo, from an international orphanage. Before she can revise her will to include Leo, Elena passes away unexpectedly.

  How it illustrates the term: Since Leo was adopted after Elena's will was created and is not mentioned in it, an Omitted Child Statute would allow him to assert a claim against Elena's estate. The statute assumes Elena intended to provide for her newly adopted son, and his absence from the will was due to her not having updated it yet, rather than a deliberate choice to exclude him.

• Example 3: Unupdated Will After Stepchild Adoption

  Robert, a widower with two adult children, writes a will dividing his estate equally between them. Years later, he remarries Maria, who has a young daughter, Sofia. Robert legally adopts Sofia, making her his third child. Robert then dies suddenly without ever updating his will to reflect Sofia's adoption.

  How it illustrates the term: In this situation, Sofia would be considered an omitted child under the statute. Because she was adopted after Robert's will was finalized and was not included in it, the law would presume Robert intended for her to inherit alongside his other children. The statute prevents Sofia from being unintentionally disinherited due to the timing of her adoption relative to the will's creation.