Issues for Children & Step-Children
Regardless of how old you are or the nature of your relationship, losing a parent is never easy. This section discusses the rights of children and step-children to inherit from their parent, or step-parent’s, estate.
Children and step-children may be eligible to contest the Will of their parent or step-parent where they did not receive reasonable financial provision from the Will or if they were left out of the Will entirely.
A court will examine the entire circumstances of the case such as the financial resources and needs of the child / step-child, and the nature of the relationship between the parent and child / step-child. The child / step-child must be able to show more than that it is not fair that their parent / step-parent did not leave them anything in their Will.
There may also be alternative options available to a child or a step-child to receive a share of the deceased’s estate.
Here are some related articles:
- Who is considered to be a ‘child’ of the deceased?
- What if the deceased parent changed his / her Will after the earlier death of their spouse?
- What if no provision is made in the Will for the child of the deceased or if it is much smaller than everyone else’s?
- What happens if the time limit to commence legal proceedings has passed?
- I am a child of the deceased: am I eligible to challenge the Will?
- I am a step-child of the deceased: am I eligible to challenge the Will?
- What must be shown to prove that reasonable financial provision has not been made?
- Is a child or step-child entitled to receive a share of the deceased’s superannuation?