# Role of divorce,blended families,step families on inheritance to biological children



## Wolf9

It's natural to distribute financial or any other resources to biological children (unconditional love due to sharing same genes) while raising them or after death.

We know that there are financial stake involved in divorce with resource divison between parents & with blended families or step families this matter becomes complicated.

So what happens when parents go through divorce & get married again & have step children, blended family dynamics, step family dynamics or children from different parteners etc

Does all Inheritance from both parents passed to biological children seamlessly or above mentioned factors create inequality?( Like sexist inequality between two biological children while passing inheritance which is observed in various cultures.)

I would like have an insight from people from these wide range of combinations about how they plan to distrubute inheritance to their biological children particularly from blended family or step family dynamics or chiildren with different parteners?

Inheritance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 



> The first form of inheritance is the inheritance of cultural capital (i.e. linguistic styles, higher status social circles, and aesthetic preferences).
> The second form of inheritance is through familial interventions in the form of inter vivos transfers (i.e. gifts between the living), especially at crucial junctures in the life courses. Examples include during a child's milestone stages, such as going to college, getting married, getting a job, and purchasing a home
> The third form of inheritance is the transfers of bulk estates at the time of death of the testators, thus resulting in significant economic advantage accruing to children during their adult years.


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## EleGirl

Inheritance laws differ by state and country.

I'm in the USA.. Each state has it's own inheritance laws.

If a person does not have a will, a % of a person's assets pass to their spouse and a % passes to their biological children. Adopted children are considered the same as biological children. Step children have no inheritance rights.

A person can over ride the state prescribed in heritance law by leaving a will. However some states do require that a person leave their spouse some amount or % of their estate.

Countries that follow Sharia law generally follow the prescribed inheritance laws in in the Qur'an. Generally when a person dies their assets are divided among their parents, spouse(s) and children. Males inherit twice as much as females.


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## papa5280

To piggy-back on EleGirl's comments, if you're the person who will be leaving an inheritance, having a will (and having someone you trust know where to find it), is the only way you can know your wishes will be respected.

If you're one of the kids, step or bio, then it depends on your parent's will.

In my case, I have two bio-kids and one ex-step-kid. My exWife brought the step-kid into the marriage. 17 years later, we divorced. So, the step-kid and I have no legal relationship. But, I've designated her as an equal beneficiary on my financial assets, and in my will.


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## lifeistooshort

I think it may partially depend on the laws of your state too. We're both on our second marriages and both have our own kids; i'm not sure that he could will what amounts to joint marital property to his daughter; perhaps his half with some limitations (ie marital home). In any case since he'll probably leave a lot of what he has to me and i'm a good bit younger so barring unforeseens I'll live longer, I'll write his daughter into my will with my sons for when i'm gone.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Malpheous

Look up the terms "Intestate" and "Intestacy". It refers to a situation of passion with no (valid) will. I learned a LOT about this when my father passed a few years ago. Thanks Dad.

In the unfortunate event that one passes and has no will, many states follow a common principal of intestate rules in their inheritance laws. When a relative passes without a will, you must petition the court to create an Administrator of the Estate and to create the Estate, etc.

Life Insurance and any other items of account as by listed beneficiary.

All of items of possession, accounts, assets, debts, etc, become matters of the Estate accounting.

After all debts are resolved, etc, any assets remaining are then divided accordingly. 

The very basic and generic pecking order as it were is typically...

1.) Spouse
2.) Dependents
3.) Parents
4.) Siblings
5.) Court decision


NY says things like, if you have a spouse and children then the spouse gets the first $50k and 1/2 of the rest and the children split the remainder.

Children split in varied shares in NY also.

1.) Biological
2.) Adopted
3.) Foster or Step
4.) Children placed for adoption
5.) Posthumous (conceived by you but born after your passing)
6.) Children born out of marriage.
7.) Grandchildren


Intestacy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Holland

This is a very timely question for me as I am about to finally do a new Will after divorce. In Aussie when you divorce any previous Will becomes void and you die Intestate.
Under local laws my children would get my estate but it is messy and others could fight for a share.

Currently the ex and I own a few properties together and I own another that is my own home outright, no debt, only assets so there is a lot to get right here.

There are two issues I have to consider: if I died today I would be happy for my ex to take over the joint properties because I know he would do the right thing by our kids. My worry would be if he re partnered one day and she took a liking to my money and assets.

Have been with my current partner for 3 plus years and love him dearly, he has his own kids and his own wealth.

I am going to leave 100% of my estate to my children, the Will gets draw up this week. My brother will be the Executor (as he has always been) as he is a Lawyer and one of the people I trust most in life.

In 5 years time if Mr H and I are still going strong then I will re think my Will, not for his benefit but to include his children in some way. It would be to a far lesser degree than my kids, more of a token amount. My children are my only concern, everything I have is for them and their children.


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## EleGirl

lifeistooshort said:


> I think it may partially depend on the laws of your state too. We're both on our second marriages and both have our own kids; i'm not sure that he could will what amounts to joint marital property to his daughter; perhaps his half with some limitations (ie marital home). In any case since he'll probably leave a lot of what he has to me and i'm a good bit younger so barring unforeseens I'll live longer, I'll write his daughter into my will with my sons for when i'm gone.


Perhaps you should find out what the laws in your state are about this. Do you and he have wills? It might be a good idea to have them and talk about it as a couple.


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## frusdil

My husband has a daughter from his first marriage. We're having our wills done next week.

We're in Australia, so not sure how it will work, but ideally he wants me to have lifetime tenancy in the house, and freedom to downsize/sell if I would like to, but it would go to his daughter when I die. He doesn't want me to have to ask her permission to sell it etc. I also have a home, and that will go to her as well.

We need to be very careful, and ensure that I'm protected from his ex wife making a claim on behalf of their daughter, and his parents. 

His daughter will always have a home with me, and everything of mine will also be willed to her in my will.

Hopefully we can make it all work out that way


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## Holland

Frusdil I am also in Aussie. The Laws here may be quite different to the US. My understanding is that here a Will can always be contested but not always that easy for the contester to win.
They have to show that they have been supported by the person in question and that will rely on income from the Estate. Most likely the only people that can genuinely say this are you and his daughter (how old is she?)

He can put a clause in to state that he has no financial obligation to his ex if they have already had a fair and completed settlement post divorce.

Personally I would consider her needs well before your eventual passing as she does have a right to her fathers Estate on his passing, not on your passing especially if you have your own property anyway. 

Anyway here you can put whatever you wish in your Wills, his or your ex's should have no rights to the Estate unless you are currently supporting them.
You can put his daughters share into Trust until a certain age so the ex cannot get access to it.


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## MotherNature

In our family my stepchildren's mother has already passed away. She left no inheritance. So When my husband and I go we will split evenly with all the kids

_Posted via *Topify* on Android_


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## frusdil

Holland, my stepdaughter is 9, almost 10.

I love her like my own, and if her father passed away I would continue to meet his financial obligations to her. 

We have discussed a life insurance policy, with her as sole beneficiary, but aren't sure how that would work.

We have a mortgage on our home, as well as on my old home, so we probably need something to cover those too...

Will see what the lawyer says.

_Posted via *Topify* using iPhone/iPad_


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## Malpheous

PS - a learned lesson since someone mentioned a new will overriding an old will.

As I learned when my father passed. The only useful will is one that's found.

When pops passed I was certain he'd had a will. Will-maker software on the PC. Discussions since the headaches we went through with my grandmother's passing. I know my father had a will somewhere. He had told me I was executor and we had already discussed his wishes over time. I knew where the safe box was supposed to be with the will and other papers. Couldn't find any of it when the time came. I knew he had switched lawyers recent to his passing. Couldn't figure out who the new lawyer was. We had to treat it as an intestate estate and shoot in the dark.


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## Thor

One very important consideration is the surviving spouse can do whatever they want with the estate. If you want your children to get your part of the estate, you have to either give it to them directly in the will or you have to set up a trust.

If the surviving spouse gets some of the deceased's estate they can then do whatever they want. The surviving spouse can change his/her will to whatever they want, and write the children out.

This happened in our family. One grandfather was a widower who had 10's of millions. He married a widow who had a very similar amount of money. They both had adult children from their first marriages, and they never had children together. They set up identical wills which specified that when the second spouse died all the money would be split evenly amongst all of the children.

When my grandfather died all of his money went to his 2nd wife. She then changed her will to remove all of his side of the family. All the remaining millions will go to her children, none of it will come to my side of the family.

So it is imperative to set up trusts or to immediately disperse money to your own children in your will. Don't trust your surviving spouse to follow your wishes.

edited to add: Top notch lawyers have been consulted and say there is no likelihood of winning a challenge to her will.


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## Bobby5000

Split everything equally; they are all my children. When I was sick, everyone visited me. 

I have three great children and treat them all the same (with the possible exception that if you are going to favor, favor the step-kids).


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## frusdil

Just to update, hubby and I did our wills. On the advice of the lawyer, the house is staying in joint names and will go to me when my husband dies. My (step)daughter will get his superannuation, which will be held in trust and turned over to her when she turns 25. I will manage it - if she needs access to it before then it will be at my discretion. Upon my death, she'll get our house, my old house, all my super and any other assets her father and I share.

Interestingly, hubby has appointed me as her guardian in his will, which means that I take over his role in raising her - the custody agreement will stay the same, I have a say in where she goes to school etc. which is wonderful. That was the biggest thing I was worried about - potentially losing this beautiful girl that i love so much. Her mother would have to go to court to have the custody arrangements changed, and the reason would have to be compelling.

I would of course, meet all of my husbands financial obligations to his (our) daughter, and she'll always have a home with me if she ever needs it.


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## Wiltshireman

Any couple where ever they live would be well advised to get a set of professionally written mirror wills.

Agree with each other how and when you wish your assets to be divided.

My father re-married 10 years after he and my mother divorced and when after 25 years together my step mother was lost to cancer the fact that everything was in place made it easier for all the children (I am one of 4 she had 3 boys from her first marriage) to accept what was going on. We all had enough emotion to deal with without the possibility of disputes over money.

We all know that when my father does go half of the proceeds from the sale of the home will go to each partners children for division between them (ie I will get a quarter of a half my step brother will get a third of a half).


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