En esta noticia
An inheritance can turn into a family conflict when a child the deceased never legally recognized shows up and claims part of the assets. In the United States, this kind of dispute raises a key question: Can they demand a share of the estate and alter the distribution the other heirs were expecting?
In New York, the law provides different ways to establish the parentage of a child born outside marriage, including through a court ruling or evidence that can prove the relationship with the deceased father. Article 4-1.2 of the Estates, Powers, and Trusts Law sets out the conditions under which the child may have inheritance rights.
However, proving paternity does not guarantee that a child will receive a share of the inheritance in every case. The child’s rights depend on the circumstances of the estate, whether there is a will and the applicable rules.
How a child who was never recognized by their father can claim an inheritance
In New York, a child born outside marriage may have the right to inherit from their deceased father, even if they were never recognized during his lifetime.
Even so, to take part in the estate, they must establish parentage legally, in other words, prove that a legal father-child relationship exists. That is set out in Article 4-1.2 of the Estates, Powers and Trust Law (EPT), the state law that governs inheritance by children born outside marriage.
A court ruling establishing paternity, a formal acknowledgment of parentage that meets legal requirements, or clear and convincing evidence such as genetic test results can all be ways to prove that relationship.
State courts also explain that legal paternity can affect inheritance rights because, in its official guide on paternity, the New York Unified Court System says that when parents are not married, the biological father does not automatically become the legal father because the relationship must be established through a valid acknowledgment or a court order of filiation.
In some circumstances, the process can begin even after the alleged father’s death.
What share of the inheritance an unrecognized child can receive compared with the other children
If the child successfully establishes parentage legally, they can join the group of heirs entitled to receive assets from their father.
That can change the distribution the family expected, because the estate must include all heirs whose rights are recognized by law. Even so, the outcome depends on the family circumstances and whether there is a will.
When a person dies without leaving a will in New York, distribution is governed by Article 4-1.1 of the EPT. According to the state courts’ official guide, if the deceased leaves a spouse and children, the spouse receives the first $50,000 and half of the remaining estate; the children split the rest, but if another child is proven to also have inheritance rights, their inclusion can change each child’s share.
This can happen as long as the inheritance rights of the unrecognized child are established and the rule that applies to the case is then followed. In addition, the distribution rule cited applies to intestate estates in New York and should not be extended to other states or to all types of inheritances.
Children can claim part of the inheritance if there is a will that does not mention them
The situation changes when the deceased left a will that divides assets among other family members. In New York, establishing paternity legally does not guarantee that the child will receive a share of the inheritance, since state law does not generally recognize an automatic right for adult children to a portion of their parents’ estates when they chose to leave them out of their will.
That is how the case law published by the state courts explains it in Brown v. Dreyfus, which examines the inheritance rights of children born outside marriage.
However, not all cases are the same because New York law includes protections for certain children who were left out of a will because they were born after it was written.
So before concluding that the child has no right to make a claim, the circumstances under which the will was executed and the rules that apply to the case must be reviewed.