Childrens Rights To Inheritance After Death

[Cb84]

Jurisdiction

Ohio

This may be a rare and complicated situation. Our father has been manipulative throughout our parents marriage. He's rarely worked, has been an alcoholic and drug user for decades, and has had multiple relationships outside of our parents marriage, never paid and continues to not contribute to bills, but our mother could not divorce him because he would always threaten to "take everything she had". She has remained married despite all of this in order to protect everything she worked for. Assets are in multiple millions of dollars between investments and property value. We are trying to determine if our mother dies before our father, does he get everything or do we have rights to prevent that from happening, do we have any course of action to prevent this?

 

[army judge]

Assets are in multiple millions of dollars between investments and property value.

If millions are at stake, one should seek the paid services of a respected, trusted, attorney-at-law specializing in wills, trusts, and/or estate law.

Seeking FREE advice when millions are at stake seems penny wise and pound foolish.

We are trying to determine if our mother dies before our father, does he get everything or do we have rights to prevent that from happening,

Intestate succession is what happens when an individual dies without setting up a will. The state of Ohio, through probate proceedings, will ultimately divide the estate that belongs to the individual and distribute it to heirs in accordance with state intestacy laws.

Ohio's intestate succession guidelines can be found in Section 2105.06 of the state's Probate Code.

The predetermined order of intestate distribution is as follows:

+ Your spouse
+ Your issue (children and direct descendants)
+ Your parents
+ Your siblings (and their descendants)
+ Your grandparents
+ Your remaining next of kin

According to the probate code:

When a person dies intestate having title or right to any personal property, or to any real property or inheritance, in this state, the personal property shall be distributed, and the real property or inheritance shall descend and pass in parcenary, except as otherwise provided by law, in the following course:

(A) If there is no surviving spouse, to the children of the intestate or their lineal descendants, per stirpes;

(B) If there is a spouse and one or more children of the decedent or their lineal descendants surviving, and all of the decedent's children who survive or have lineal descendants surviving also are children of the surviving spouse, then the whole to the surviving spouse;

(C) If there is a spouse and one child of the decedent or the child's lineal descendants surviving and the surviving spouse is not the natural or adoptive parent of the decedent's child, the first twenty thousand dollars plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate to the spouse and the remainder to the child or the child's lineal descendants, per stirpes;

(D) If there is a spouse and more than one child or their lineal descendants surviving, the first sixty thousand dollars if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of one, but not all, of the children, or the first twenty thousand dollars if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of none of the children, plus one-third of the balance of the intestate estate to the spouse and the remainder to the children equally, or to the lineal descendants of any deceased child, per stirpes;

(E) If there are no children or their lineal descendants, then the whole to the surviving spouse;


The Ohio Probate Code:

Lawriter - ORC

 

[Cb84]

Thank you for the quick reply. The purpose of the post was not to seek free advice that would be immediately actionable, but rather advice on where to start, and if any experts had thoughts on what to key in on when we seek paid legal advice. I do appreciate your input

 

[adjusterjack]

We are trying to determine if our mother dies before our father, does he get everything

He will get everything that is owned jointly with right of survivorship. Married people typically own everything jointly with right of survivorship. As manipulative as you make him sound I'm guessing that he's probably got all that tied up. If so then, no, the children have no rights to anything.

You'll want to check the recorded deeds to the properties to see how the ownership is written.

You'll also want to see how the investments and bank accounts are written.

 

[cbg]

And of course you know that just because your father claims that he will take everything doesn't mean a judge will allow that, right?

 

[army judge]

One final note: One has no RIGHT to inherit the property of a parent in the United States, unless the parent is negligent in NOT creating a will or trust.

My wife and I have wills that determine how we want our assets distributed upon our ultimate demise.

Some will be unhappy, some will be pleased, a few will be surprised.

The surviving spouse will administer the estate of the deceased spouse, and a bank will administer the estate of the last spouse standing.

Financial planning aids in keeping the buzzards and vultures away.

 

[zddoodah]

our mother could not divorce him because he would always threaten to "take everything she had".

That does not mean she could not divorce him. She certainly could divorce him (and always could have done so). Their marital property would be divided, but there's no scenario in which he could (legally) "take everything she had." That's just silly, and I find it hard to believe that a woman who was apparently astute enough to amass millions of dollars of wealth would be so ignorant as to not understand that.

We are trying to determine if our mother dies before our father, does he get everything or do we have rights to prevent that from happening, do we have any course of action to prevent this?

You have no rights whatsoever regarding your parents' property. What happens with your mother's estate when she dies will be determined by the terms of her will and/or trust or, if she doesn't engage in proper estate planning, by the intestate succession laws of her state of residence at the time of her death. Under most states' intestate succession laws, the estate of a person who is survived by a spouse and adult children who are also the surviving spouse's children goes entirely to the surviving spouse or is divided in some manner between the surviving spouse and children. In Ohio, the surviving spouse gets everything. If your mother wants a different result, she should consult with an estate planning attorney.