I've known my father for seven years now but I was born outside of his first marriage. He is currently married to another woman after divorcing his first wife. We have a good relationship but he is seriously ill right now with cancer. I was wondering if I will be entitled to anything from his estate when he passes away under Massachusetts law? thanks.
Search Existing Questions
Login to Post Questions
Tell Us What You Think
The Editor, Mark Bernardin, is an attorney living in MA. Please send your suggestions or comments to: TheEditor@malawforum.com
Disclaimer
The answers and information provided on this site are for informational purposes only and are NOT substitutes for professional legal advice. Before making legal decisions, you should discuss your specific circumstances with an attorney.
Children born out of wedlock
The answer to your question may depend on whether your father has a will and/or an estate plan or not. If he has a will, that document will determine whether you will take any of his estate when he passes away. If he does not have a will (this is known as dying intestate), then the answer will depend on the intestacy laws of Massachusetts. You can follow that link to a description of our intestacy laws under the new MA probate code.
Generally speaking, if your father's children take under the law, you will be included in that group. The new code specifically states that, when considering who should take from an intestate decedent, all children will be treated equally, regardless of whether they were born out of wedlock or not. See Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 190B, Section 2-114(a). If your relationship to your father has not been legally established, then you can bring a paternity action under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter209C. Hope that helps.
One Other Possibility
There is a possibility that you may inherit even if your father dies with a will (testate).
Massachusetts has an "omitted child statute" that applies to children born or adopted after the will was executed. If your father's will is older than you are, you may inherit.
If your father had no living children when he executed the will, you would take an amount equal to an intestate share.
If your father had one or more children living when he executed the will, and the will devised property to one or more of them, you are entitled to receive the share of his estate that you would have received if he had included you with the children to whom devises were made and had given an equal share of the gift to each child.
Thomas Swain Smith
Massachusetts Estate Planning Lawyer