During Louisiana succession proceedings, the family members of someone who has died often have to wait months to receive their inheritances. Typically, the personal representative overseeing the succession process must fulfill any tax obligations and debts owed by the decedent before distributing resources to beneficiaries.
In scenarios where the deceased individual left a clear estate plan, their wishes govern the distribution of their property. In cases where there is no will or when family members contest the validity of the will successfully in court, Louisiana’s intestate succession laws dictate what happens with an individual’s estate.
Children are among the heirs who benefit from an estate when a parent dies without a will. Generally, the children receive equal inheritances in an intestate succession scenario, although their portion of the estate depends on whether there is a surviving spouse to inherit and their relationship to that spouse. In blended families, there may also be stepchildren who may hope to receive support from the estate. Do stepchildren have inheritance rights under Louisiana succession laws?
Stepchildren can be beneficiaries but are not heirs
Individuals who have close connections with their stepchildren have two ways to ensure that they receive financial support from their estate when they die. The first is through stepparent adoption. They can legally adopt their stepchildren, thereby extending them the right to inherit property during the succession process.
Without a stepparent adoption, stepchildren can only inherit if their stepparent names them as beneficiaries in an estate plan. They are not heirs protected by a legal right of inheritance. Without clear paperwork designating them as beneficiaries and allocating specific assets to them, they may not receive anything from the estate whatsoever.
Anything they do receive might come from the goodwill of their step-siblings or from the inheritance that their parent received from their stepparent. Learning more about Louisiana’s succession laws can help people in unique family circumstances understand what to expect.
Realistic expectations and appropriate advance planning can help diminish the likelihood of conflict during succession proceedings in a blended family scenario when a parent dies. Stepchildren do not automatically have a right to inherit from an estate, but stepparents can choose to include them in their estate plans.