Every family won't have the same number, dynamics, and relationships as everyone one else. Children don't need a biological relationship with you for them to be considered your children.
However, estate laws have a specific definition as to who is legally considered your children. Therefore, California estate laws will influence how each child may or may not be eligible as an heir if you don't have a will.
Your last will and testament is supposed to lay out how your estate and finances will be divided among beneficiaries after you die. However, your estate will be distributed according to California's intestate succession laws if you don't have a will.
So, let's look at how California intestate laws work and how they might affect your children's (or stepchildren's) eligibility to become heirs.
What Is The California Intestate Succession Law?
If you do not have a last will and testament by the time you pass away, the distribution of your estate will fall under California intestate succession laws. This means that your estate will go to your legal heirs, who are categorized as follows:
- Heirs-at-law, which includes your spouse and children.
- Collateral heirs, including parents and grandchildren. Your estate will go to collateral heirs only if your heirs-at-law are no longer alive.
As you can see, your closest kin is given more priority in the distribution of your estate. However, with a last will and testament in California, you'll be able to list all the beneficiaries you want and don't want to receive portions of your estate.
This means that stepchildren, though often given less priority than your legal family members in succession laws, can become beneficiaries in a last will and testament. Make sure you contact a California Estate Planning Lawyer to assist you in drafting the will.
How Do California Intestate Succession Laws Apply To Children?
The process in California for recognizing children as heirs-at-law in the absence of a will is as follows:
1. Biological Children
Because they are a deceased person's direct genetic descendants, biological children have the most substantial rights to inheritance under California intestate law, regardless of the marital status of their parents.
2. Adoptive Children
Legally adopted children have an equal right to inheritance as biological children. This is because adoption legally makes a child a member of your family.
3. Unadopted Stepchildren
In some blended families, stepparents don't officially adopt their new spouse's children. If there is no will, only if there are no other living close relatives (such as legal children, parents, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.) will stepchildren have the right to inherit from the estate in California.
Hence, if you want your stepchildren to become beneficiaries of your estate, you should create a will and testament to ensure there is a legal declaration of where you want your money and properties to go.
4. Children Adopted By Another Family
As mentioned, adopting legally makes a child your heir. So, if you have biological children adopted by someone else, those children will be eligible to inherit their legal parents' estate.
Adopted children are legally separated from their biological parents and are no longer eligible to inherit under intestate succession laws.
5. Foster Children
Foster children do not inherit property from foster parents unless they are identified as beneficiaries in a last will and testament.
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