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Step-children and Your Will |
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Stepfamily Articles -
Wills
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Step-children are children from prior relationships. Generally, a person making a will has freedom to dispose of his or her property as they choose. Most states have provisions to provide for spouses, but much lesser protections are in place for children or step-children. Where the difference in distribution of a decedent's estate as to step-children comes into play is usually in situations where a person writes a will and after that date, marries a spouse that has an existing child. Wills are often written to describe a person's children as ''issue,'' ''descendents,'' ''children,'' or ''heirs.'' With the existence of step-children, will interpretation becomes more difficult. Therefore, clearly drafting your will to either include or exclude step-children is very important.
Common Ways That Step-Children Are Provided for or Omitted
Generally it is not presumed that children or step-children were intentionally disinherited. Sometimes a person wishes to treat all children and step-children the same. Other times a person wants to provide differently for step-children than for his or her own children. This may be because the step-children have other financial resources due to their age or their inheritance rights from other portions of their own families. In the case where the person has children from his or her present marriage and wants to treat any step-children the same as his or her biological children, the will should include provisions for the step-children. In addition, to make the will as clear as possible, be sure that it will include all of the parent's children and step-children, and remember that the will should be updated if a new child is added to the family.
Read more...Step-children and Your Will - Lawyers.com |
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