Does a child have any claim if they were excluded from her father’s Will?

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Does a child have any claim if they were excluded from her father’s Will?

My mother-in-law moved in with her love. He was dying of cancer and put her as sole beneficiary in his Will stating that he wanted his daughter to have nothing. Now she says she has claim.

Asked on July 29, 2016 under Estate Planning, Arizona

Answers:

M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 7 years ago | Contributor

Adult children can be disinherited. A given state may have specific language that it may require to be put into the Will, so that the excluded child can't claim that their being disinherited was an oversight. Otherwise, a child need not be listed as a beneficiary in a parent's Will. That having been said, a Will can be contested on other grounds. For example, for "undue influence", "incompetency" of the testor (i.e. the person who made the Will) and the like.


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