Except in limited circumstances, children generally do not have a right to inherit anything (real property or personal property) from their parents. Laws do vary from state to state and in some states, for example, the head of a household may be prohibited from leaving the family homestead to anyone other than a surviving spouse or minor child if such person is alive.
And most states have laws that protect children (and sometimes grandchildren) against accidental inheritance in certain limited circumstances. These laws usually apply when a child is born after a parent’s will is executed, and because the will leaves property to the child’s siblings, it appears that the parent did not intend to disinherit the new child. In this circumstance the child who was not mentioned in the will may be eligible to inherit a portion of the estate like the child’s siblings. Such an omitted child is also known as a pretermitted child or a pretermitted heir.
In states with pretermitted child laws, the laws are usually located in the state’s statutes—often in the estates code or probate code.
In Texas, the law does recognize the rights of pretermitted children, or children who were unintentionally omitted from a will. Under the Texas Estates Code, if a child is born or adopted after the execution of a will and the will does not provide for that child, nor does it appear that the omission was intentional, the child may have the right to receive a share of the estate equivalent to what they would have received if the parent had died without a will (intestate). This is to ensure that the child is not accidentally disinherited. However, if the will explicitly states that the omission was intentional, or if the parent made other provisions for the child outside the will, the child may not have the right to inherit. Additionally, if the parent's estate is left entirely to the other parent of the omitted child, the pretermitted child statute does not apply. It's important to note that these protections do not grant children a general right to inherit; they are designed to address specific situations where a child might be unintentionally left out of a will. An attorney can provide more detailed advice on how these laws might apply in specific circumstances.
