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Simple English definitions for legal terms
pretermitted heir
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A quick definition of pretermitted heir:
A pretermitted heir is a child who was not included in their parent's will. This can happen by accident or on purpose. To protect children who were accidentally left out, some states have laws that give them a share of the parent's estate as if there was no will. However, if the parent intended to leave the child out, these laws do not apply. Some states require clear evidence of this intention, while others only need clues from the language of the will. For example, if a child is named executor but left nothing in the will, it may be a sign that the parent meant to disinherit them.
A more thorough explanation:
A pretermitted heir is a child who was not included in the will of a person who has died. This means that the child was not given any inheritance or property from the person who died. In the past, it was assumed that the person who made the will intentionally left out the child. However, now there are laws that protect pretermitted heirs.
These laws vary by state, but they generally provide that if a child is unintentionally left out of a will, they will receive the same share of the estate that they would have received if the person who died had not made a will at all. For example, if a person had three children and only named two of them in their will, the third child would still receive a share of the estate under pretermitted heir laws.
However, if the person who made the will clearly intended to disinherit the child, then the pretermitted heir laws do not apply. This means that if the will specifically states that the child should not receive any inheritance, then the child will not receive anything.
For example, if a person writes a will that says "I leave all of my property to my two children, John and Jane, and nothing to my other child, Sarah," then Sarah would not be considered a pretermitted heir because the will clearly shows that the person intended to disinherit her.