Law of Wills, 2016A

Eric had three children, Harriet, Ivan, and Justin. Devon died intestate. He was survived by Charles,
Gus, Harriet, Ivan and Justin.
5. Anna, a widow, had three children, Toni, Maddy, and Nelson. Toni had one child, Christina.
Christina had two children, Eugenia and Catherine. Nelson had two children Lawrence and Thomas.
Toni had three children, Darlene, Sarah, and Tiffany. Darlene had three children, Lisa, Minnie, and
Noah. Anna died intestate. Toni, Maddy, Nelson, Christian and Lawrence predeceased Anna. She
was survived by Eugenia, Catherine, Thomas, Darlene, Sarah, and Tiffany.
2.5 Ancestors, Collaterals and Others.
2.5.1 Parents
In some cases, the intestacy system places parents second in line to children. The law
assumes that a decedent only wants his or her parents to inherit if he or she is not survived by
children. Is it possible that a decedent would prefer that an elderly parent inherit instead of an adult
child?
In about half of the states, parents take if the decedent is not survived by children.
However, in the other states, the surviving spouse of a decedent with no surviving children takes the
intestate decedent’s entire estate. Even in jurisdictions that favor parents, parents may be prevented
from inheriting.
Uniform Probate Code § 2-114. Parent and Child Relationship.
(c) Inheritance from or through a child by either natural parent or his [or her] kindred is
precluded unless that natural parent has openly treated the child as his [or hers], and has not refused
to support the child.
Section 2-114 was originally designed to punish “dead beat dads”. When the Code was
revised in 1990, the section was amended to apply to mothers. As the next two cases illustrate,
mothers can be just as neglectful as fathers.
In re Estate of Fleming, 991 P.2d 128 (Wash. Ct. App. 2000) (Voluntary Termination of
Parental Rights)
BAKER, J.
Margaret Fleming voluntarily surrendered her infant son Thomas Fleming to a charitable
organization for adoption. At that time, she agreed to a court order that permanently relinquished all
maternal rights to him. However, Thomas was never adopted. He died intestate fifty years later with
no spouse or issue. Margaret Fleming and her later-born son Antonio Marzan now assert that they
are intestate heirs of Thomas. Because we hold that the termination order permanently divested
Fleming and her kin of intestate inheritance rights, Thomas’s estate escheats to the State of
Washington.
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