Losing a parent is a tragedy, but it is also a rite of passage for many middle-aged adults. Most children outlive their parents unless something unusual occurs. Adult children who have lost a parent have to grieve and also have to address many practical challenges.
Family members have to prepare a funeral or memorial service. They have to carry out their loved one’s last wishes and fulfill their remaining obligations to others. That process often begins with a review of the deceased parent’s will.
Children are often among the beneficiaries included in a will. Unfortunately, not every adult child receives the inheritance that they expect. Some people discover that their parents omitted them or disinherited them. Do adult children denied an inheritance have the right to contest a will that does not leave them an inheritance?
Inheritance rights are complex
There are numerous scenarios in which people in Colorado have a statutory right to inherit from an estate. The surviving spouse of an individual who recently died typically has a right to an inheritance. The minor children of an individual who died may also have an interest in an estate even if the decedent did not include their minors in their will. That right stems from a parent’s obligation to provide for the basic needs of their children.
Adult children do not automatically have a right of inheritance. They can inherit from an intestate estate if their parent dies without a will. In scenarios where parents omit a child or intentionally disinherit them, adult children need valid grounds to contest a will.
What could lead to a will contest?
Some people create a will early in life and then never revisit their estate plans. In scenarios where the date that the testator drafted the documents predates the birth of a child left without an inheritance, the now-adult child may have grounds to contest the will. They could establish a straightforward claim that their parent unintentionally omitted them by drafting the documents prior to their birth.
Other times, it might be possible to assert that the testator made revisions to their documents at a point in their life where they lacked testamentary capacity. Disinherited adult children can also sometimes establish that their parents experienced undue influence from other family members or caregivers.
Reviewing a will and family circumstances with a skilled legal team can help people determine if they have grounds to initiate probate litigation. Disinherited adult children can sometimes successfully contest the wills of their deceased parents.