Talking about the rights of kids (and adults) who have gone through the legal process of adoption can be complicated. One of the most common questions families have is what happens to a child’s inheritance rights in Tennessee after the adoption is finalized? Do children inherit through their biological parents, their adoptive parents, or both?

Tennessee Intestacy Laws

If you have ever dealt with probate in Tennessee, you know that Tennessee has specific inheritance laws that determine how an asset is distributed when someone dies without a will. Here’s a quick summary of what happens:

• Family Structure: Children, but no spouse.
  What Happens: Children inherit everything.

• Family Structure: Spouse, but no descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.)
  What Happens: Spouse inherits everything.

• Family Structure: Spouse AND children or descendants.
  What Happens: Spouse receives 1/3 of the property, and descendants equally share the remaining 2/3.

• Family Structure: Parents, but no spouse or children (or descendants).
  What Happens: Parents inherit everything.

• Family Structure: Siblings, but no parents, spouse, or children (or descendants).
  What Happens: Siblings inherit everything.

As you can see, the results are pretty straightforward, as children are provided for.

Can an Adopted Child Inherit from Their Adoptive Parents?

Yes, an adopted child can inherit from their adoptive parents.

Remember, the parent-child relationship is created by law when the adoption is finalized. Specifically, the court must terminate the parental rights of the biological parents, and transfer those rights to the parents who are adopting the child. This means that the adoptive parents have all the rights and responsibilities of a biological parent, and the child has the same rights as the biological child of their new parents, including the right to inheritance.

In other words, if an adoptive parent dies intestate, their adopted child will have the right to inherit just as any biological child would.

Can Adopted Children Inherit From Their Birth Parents?

If the Biological Parents Died Intestate

No, adopted children do not inherit through their birth parents, for the same reasons.

Part of the adoption process includes the termination of the birth parents’ parental rights and the transfer of those rights to the adoptive parents. Once that process is completed, the child has the same rights as if he or she was born to the adoptive parents, and the adoptive parents have all of the rights and responsibilities of parenting that child. On the other hand, the birth parents no longer have any rights or responsibilities to the child, and the child has no rights or responsibilities to the birth parents. This includes the child’s right to inherit.

If the Biological Parents Died and Left a Will

There is a way for an adopted child to inherit from their biological parents, and that is if the parents left a will that specifically named the adopted child as a beneficiary. Otherwise, as mentioned above, under Tennessee’s intestacy laws, adopted children do not have the legal ability to inherit from biological parents.

Other Situations

Foster Children

If a foster parent dies without a will, any foster children that were never legally adopted will not automatically receive a share from the decedent’s estate. If the foster child is specifically named as a beneficiary of a will, however, they can inherit.

Stepchildren

Similarly, a stepchild that was never adopted by their parent’s spouse will not inherit from their stepparent automatically under the intestacy statute. However, if the stepparent legally adopts the child, they will have the right to inherit from their stepparent. Likewise, even without an adoption, the stepparent can include the stepchild in a will as a beneficiary.

Importantly, because stepparent adoptions are the only adoptions that leave parental rights intact (for one biological parent), a stepparent adoption will also protect the inheritance rights of the stepchild related to their biological parent in the marriage.

Children Born Outside of Marriage

For fathers who were not married to their children’s mother when they were born, those children do have the right to inherit from their father if paternity is established and they have not been legally adopted by a stepparent.

Posthumous Children

Children conceived by a father who are not born before their father’s death have the right to inherit from the deceased father, provided they survived at least 120 hours after birth.

Can an Adopted Child be Excluded from an Inheritance?

The short answer is yes.

Because adopted children have the same rights they would have if they were born to their adoptive family, they can be disinherited, just like any other child. In order to do so, it should be clear that the child is disinherited in the will, so the Court does not assume it was a mistake or that the child was intentionally left out.

Talk to an Estate Planning Lawyer

Inheritance laws are nuanced already, and navigating them when adopted or foster children are involved can be complicated. You want the best for your family, and they deserve it. The Otten Law Firm is here to guide you through the process so you don’t leave anything to chance.

Book a consultation today to start planning.