Can an adopted child claim on their parent’s estate? I regularly meet clients who have had a child in the past who was legally adopted and brought up by another family, and with whom the biological parent has had no further contact. Very often the client has gone on marry and to have more children, whom they have brought up themselves. The parent’s later children usually have no idea that they have a half sibling, although with DNA testing now readily available at a modest cost, there is the ever-present prospect of an unexpected discovery.
When we are discussing the person’s Will, I am asked whether an adopted child can claim on their biological parent’s estate, under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, as a biological child would usually be able to.
Who can claim?
In theory, there is no forced heirship in England & Wales. We are all entitled to leave our assets to whomever we wish. That said, the Inheritance Act 1975 was designed to prevent close family members from being disinherited unfairly. A spouse or civil partner, former spouse or civil partner, unmarried partner or child of the deceased, or indeed anyone else whom the deceased treated as their child or whom they financially maintained, may bring an Inheritance Act claim, if the Will or intestacy of the deceased did not make reasonable provision for them. There have been various court cases in recent years, usually brought by disappointed adult children, with mixed results depending on their circumstances.
Does an adopted child have a claim?
Broadly speaking, an adopted child does not usually have a claim on their biological parent’s estate, once they legally become the child of someone else via the completed adoption process. They will instead have a potential claim on their adopted parent’s estate. However, if the adoption was not legally recognised then the responsibility still rests with the biological parent.
New rights for adopted children
The Inheritance and Trustees’ Powers Act 2014 introduced new rights for adopted children. If a child was born after 2014 and their biological parent died before they were adopted, the child may still be entitled to inherit from their biological parent’s estate.
Until an adoption is finalised – and the process is often lengthy – a child has the right to claim on their biological parent’s estate and not on their adoptive parent’s estate.
There is also now an exception to the general rule that claims rest with the estate of the child’s legal parent, at any given time. If an adopted child can show that their biological parent treated them as a child of the family, they can challenge the biological parent’s Will and bring an Inheritance Act claim against their estate, despite the adoption. In practice, this set of circumstances will only rarely apply.
Chiltern Wills is a Will writing business based in Beaconsfield and run by former London solicitor Rebecca D’Arcy. Call us on 01494 708688 or email info@chilternwills.com for a free initial chat about how we can help with your Will, Lasting Power of Attorney or Probate work.
