pretermitted heir

pretermitted heir: A child who is not mentioned in a will and whom the court believes was accidentally overlooked by the person who made the will. For example, a child born or adopted after the will is made may be deemed a pretermitted heir. If the court determines that an heir was accidentally omitted, that heir is entitled to receive the same share of the estate as he or she would have if the deceased had died without a will. A pretermitted heir is sometimes called an omitted heir.

Category: Wills, Trusts & Estates → Estates, Executors & Probate Court

pretermitted heir: n. An heir who was born after a decedent's will was drafted, but before the death of same. Because that heir was not alive for and is as a result unmentioned by the will, she generally would take nothing under the will; however, most states have laws allowing a pretermitted heir of the decedent to take whatever a child's share would have been had the decedent died intestate.

pretermitted heir: A child or other descendent omitted from the will of a testator.

pretermitted heir: A child or other descendent omitted from the will of a testator.

pretermitted heir: n.

the child of a person who has written a will in which the child is not left anything and is not mentioned at all. After the death of the parent, a pretermitted heir has the right to demand the share he/she would have received as an heir under the laws of distribution and descent. The reasoning is that the parent either inadvertently forgot the child or incorrectly believed the child was dead, and did not mean to leave him/her out. Thus, if someone wishes to disinherit a child or omit him/her from his/her will, that parent should specifically state in the will: "I leave nothing to my son, Gordon," with or without a reason. Otherwise there may be unfair and unintended results. Example: Tommy Testator has three children, gives two of them $10,000 each, and the remainder (which turns out to be a million dollars) to set up a scholarship fund for orphans. His omitted child, who has not spoken to him for 20 years, is a pretermitted heir entitled to one-third of the estate, and will receive $340,000 compared to his siblings' specified $10,000 each.

See also: heir

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Pretermitted heir — A pretermitted heir is a term used in the law of property to describe a person who would likely stand to inherit under a will, except that the testator (the person who wrote the will) did not know or did not know of the party at the time the will … Wikipedia
pretermitted heir — noun A person who would likely stand to inherit under a will, except that the testator did not know of the party or of the relationship at the time the will was written. See Also: pretermitted child, pretermitted spouse … Wiktionary
pretermitted heir — One who as a child or descendant of another would have shared in the estate of the latter if the latter had died intestate but who is not named in or provided for by the will left by such ancestor. As to statutes respecting right of pretermitted… … Ballentine's law dictionary
pretermitted heir — /priytarmitad er/ A child or other descendant omitted by a testator. Where a testator unintentionally fails to mention in his will, or make provision for, a child, either living at the date of the execution of the will or born thereafter, a… … Black's law dictionary
heir — / ar/ n: one who inherits or is entitled to succeed to the possession of property after the death of its owner: as a: one who by operation of law inherits the property and esp. the real property of a person who dies without leaving a valid will… … Law dictionary
heir — /er/ See heirs @ heir apparent An heir whose right of inheritance is indefeasible, provided he outlive the ancestor; as in England the eldest son, or his issue, who must, by the course of the common law, be heir to the father whenever he happens… … Black's law dictionary
heir — /er/ See heirs @ heir apparent An heir whose right of inheritance is indefeasible, provided he outlive the ancestor; as in England the eldest son, or his issue, who must, by the course of the common law, be heir to the father whenever he happens… … Black's law dictionary
pretermitted child — noun A child who would likely stand to inherit under a will, except that the testator did not know of the child at the time the will was written, usually because the child was not yet born. See Also: pretermitted heir, pretermitted spouse … Wiktionary
pretermitted spouse — noun A spouse who would likely stand to inherit under a will, but was not included in the will because he or she was not yet married to the testator at the time the will was written. See Also: elective share, pretermitted child, pretermitted heir … Wiktionary
pretermitted child — See pretermitted heir … Ballentine's law dictionary

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pretermitted heir

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