When a biological parent dies, adopted children sometimes seek to exercise inheritance rights to that parent’s estate. Such claims generally lack a legal basis once an adoption is final.
This is because, once an adoption is finalized, the legal relationship between a child and their biological parents is severed. As with most things there are several points of delicacy and distinction.
Let’s see the interaction of adoption and inheritance laws, and inheritance position of adoptive children in England and Wales.
In the interest of clarity, for the rest of this article, the terms ‘adoptive child’, ‘adopted child’ and all variants thereof shall refer to a child that was adopted away from the biological parents. Say a child was born by Family A, but was adopted by Family Z, the child has become part of family Z. We shall thus consider a child adopted by family Z
The Short Answer
In inheritance terms, successful conclusion of the adoption process terminates the relationship between a child and their biological parents. Therefore an adopted child cannot claim on their biological parent’s estate after adoption is finalized.
Under inheritance law, an adopted child is treated as if they were born to their adoptive parents, not their biological parents. Therefore, to the extent that a child has any inheritance rights, slender as such rights are, these rights could generally only extend to the estate of the parents who adopted the child into their family.
The Inheritance and Trustees Powers act 2014 puts a kink in this general framework, but more of that later.
The Legal Framework
The law treats adoption as a complete legal break from biological parents. This principle comes from the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and earlier legislation, particularly the Adoption Act 1976.
Generally, an adopted person has the same inheritance rights as a biological child of the adoptive parents. The principal exceptions relate to property that devolves with titles of honour or peerages, which adopted individuals generally cannot inherit.
Conversely, biological parents have no inheritance obligations to adopted children once the adoption is complete.
View another way: a child may only have one set of parents at a time. So, if your birth parents made no financial provision for you in their lifetime, because you were adopted or raised by another family – their estate would owe you nothing. Being blunt on the matter: a person in death may only reasonably be expected to provide for those they provided for in life.
This principle becomes pertinent when we look at who can make a claim against an estate.
Who Can Claim Under the Inheritance Act 1975?
If wishes were horses… Not everyone wishing to claim part of an estate may so do. The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 allows certain people to claim against an estate if they believe the deceased’s estate [by will or by the laws of intestacy – which are not to be relied upon as means of inheritance planning] didn’t make adequate financial provision for them.
To successfully claim, you must fall into one of these categories:
- Spouse or civil partner of the deceased
- Former spouse or civil partner (in specific circumstances)
- A child of the deceased (biological or adopted in the deceased’s lifetime)
- A person treated as a child of the family (including stepchildren and sometimes long-term foster children)
- A person financially maintained by the deceased immediately before their death
You might notice children who were adopted away from the deceased are unmentioned among those who may bring a claim.
Three Strikes Against a Claim
As they say in baseball, three strikes and you are out.
In looking to bring a claim against an estate, an adoptive child may be pursuing a lost cause because:
You’re an Adult
The 1975 Act gives some weight to claims from dependent children. Adult children face a steep challenge to prove they deserve more than they were left from an estate. Courts rarely award substantial sums to adult children unless they can demonstrate exceptional financial dependency or special circumstances.
No Financial Provision in Life
In death as in life. My understanding of inheritance law is that people should provide in death for those they support in life. Your biological parents made no financial provision for you during their lifetime because you were raised by your adoptive family. Therefore, a court would struggle to justify their estate providing for you after death.
The Adoption Severed Your Legal Relationship
Once your adoption was finalized, the law treated your biological parent as having no closer relationship to you than they have with your next-door neighbour. They had no obligation to support you.
We’ll close the book on this subject, but not before we examine the slender exceptions established by the 2014 Act.
The Exception: Changes in 2014
The Inheritance and Trustees’ Powers Act 2014 introduced the principle of contingency. It merely clarified an anomaly. The meaning of the act to our purpose is that a child who was going to inherit would NOT lose the inheritance because of adoption.
To adduce an exemplar: Rafik is a single parent. He dies intestate. His daughter would have been entitled to inherit from Rafik under the rules of intestacy. The daughter is adopted a few months after. By the 2014 Act, the child’s inheritance right existed on Rafik’s death therefore the adoption would not extinguish the child’s inheritance rights.
The child’s ability to inherit from its adoptive parents is intact.
When You Can Claim
To clarify when claims are possible, let’s look at some scenarios:
Scenario 1: Stepchild
You were raised by your stepfather but never formally adopted. Your stepfather dies. You could claim under the 1975 Act if you can prove you were “treated as a child of the family.”
Scenario 2: Foster Child Treated as Family
You were in long-term foster care, and your foster parents treated you as their daughter for 15 years. You could claim under the 1975 Act based on being “treated as a child of the family.”
Protecting Your Family
If you’re part of an adoptive family or a blended family, these steps can prevent inheritance disputes:
1. Write a Will
If you want to provide for adopted children or stepchildren, state this in your will.
2. Communicate Your Intentions
Don’t leave inheritance surprises. Discuss your wishes and intentions with your family. Explain how your estate will be divided and why.
3. Special Considerations for Blended Families
In all cases, but particularly if you are part of a blended family, treat beneficiaries in your will as individuals – specify the relationship rather than treat the beneficiaries as a group. For instance write ‘my daughter Janet, my son Jon my step-daughter Janice’ rather than ‘my children’.
4. Use Trusts for Complex Situations
For complicated family arrangements, consider establishing a trust. A trust can specify who benefits and when, bypassing many inheritance disputes.
5. Update Documents Regularly
Life changes. When your family situation changes through remarriage, adoption, or birth, update your will and estate documents accordingly.
Conclusion
Adoptive children seeking to claim part of the biological parents’ estates are on to a sticky wicket. Outside the slender exceptions provided by the 2014 Act, such claims are destined to failure.
In the final analysis, for good or for ill, you biological parents gave you up for adoption. They did not provide for you financially in their lifetimes. By my understanding of the rules of inheritance, as they were not obliged to provide for you in their lifetimes, they’ve no obligation to provide for you on death.
The best advice in a complex inheritance situation involving adoption or blended family circumstances, get professional advice. Every family’s situation is unique.