Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Minnesota

Re: adopted child not named in a will

Sounds complicated. A child - adopted or natural - has rights under Minnesota statutes which are independent of anything a will might say; and the adopted child might try to contest the will to get something out of the estate.

How successful the adopted child might be depends on a lot of circumstances, including the age of that child. It is one thing if the child is 50 years old and independent, and another thing if the child is 17 years old and still living in the home of the deceased person; and there are various possibilities along the continuum between those two extremes.

There is no substitute for a face to face consult with a lawyer. There are too many variables in this one to get much good from a forum like this.

Re: adopted child not named in a will

You have a complicated question that would require a review of all facts.

An adopted child and a naturally born child have the same rights under the law. There is no difference. As a result, you question relates to a child that was pretermitted.

A pretermitted child is a child of a person who has written a will in which the child is not left anything and is not mentioned at all. After the death of the parent, a pretermitted heir has the right to demand the share he/she would have received as an heir under the laws of distribution and descent. The reasoning is that the parent either inadvertently forgot the child or incorrectly believed the child was dead, and did not mean to leave him/her out. Thus, if someone wishes to disinherit a child or omit him/her from his/her will, that parent should specifically state in the will: "I leave nothing to my son, Gordon," with or without stating a reason. Otherwise there may be unfair and unintended results.

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