Are children born outside of a married couple invalid?
When it comes to family, it’s not uncommon for there to be realities of inheritance or a person’s legacy may be discussed. Inheritance generally refers to money, but it can also include sentimental items or property.
With that said, matters can get really complicated if a person becomes particular about who they consider ‘family’, or who they feel is justified to inherit their wealth.
These realities were highlighted in a recent online post in which a grandmother refuses to leave one of her grandson’s anything in her will, and he’s the only grandchild who happened to be born out of wedlock.
Are children born outside of a married couple invalid?
An online post published on October 3, reported on by Leonie Helm from Newsweek, has gone viral with 10,300 upvotes and 3,100 comments.
The author begins her post by explaining that her mother is currently living with her, and as she’s ‘getting older’ she ‘wants to create her will’. The author’s mom has two children, the author and her brother.
With that said, the author’s brother has a teenage daughter with his wife of two decades, but he also has a 9-year-old son. This little boy was born while the brother was briefly separated from his wife, and the brother had a one-night stand. Unfortunately, the boy’s mother passed away a year prior, so the 9-year-old is now living with the brother and his wife full-time.
The author goes on to explain that the 9-year-old has become more and more integrated into the family. She even states that the grandmother recognizes the 9-year-old as her grandson too.
Who is entitled to a person’s inheritance?
Though this sounds like the best case scenario in a complicated situation, things get a little tricky. The grandmother, while recognizing the 9-year-old as family, has plans to treat him differently in her will. The author goes on to explain that the grandmother has a property that she would like to ‘split along the grandkids’ after she passes.
With further context, the 9-year-old has a ‘6-figure sum’ in a trust, as well as what is likely to be a 7-figure inheritance from his maternal grandparents, so for this reason, the grandmother didn’t feel it ‘made sense’ for the 9-year-old to have a cut of the property meant for the other three grandchildren.
However, when the author’s brother found this out, he ‘demanded his son be cut equally to the property’, not for the reason of money, but rather as a symbolic gesture to not exclude the child, or make him feel any less like family.
What do you think? Should the 9-year-old absolutely be included in the inheritance, even though he has over 7 figures being left to him from his maternal grandparents? Or does it make sense that the 9-year-old not be included, considering the complicated way that he came into the world?
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