You may find this surprising, but in California, children do not have an automatic right to inherit their parents’ assets. And you’re not alone – a lot of people are surprised about that. They’ll call up our office saying a bad actor changed the Will or the Trust and somebody else is getting the assets, not the children.
Now, we might be able to challenge that Trust or Will if something was done improperly, such as a change made during a time when your parent lacked capacity or was subject to undue influence. But, if your parent were of sound mind and they were doing what they wanted, they do have the right to completely disinherit you as a child. In fact, a parent can disinherit all of the children if they choose to do. That’s assuming that the children are adult. The parent does not have a right to get away from paying child support for any minor children. But, when it comes to adult children, any child can be disinherited by a parent. There is not an automatic right to inherit assets in California.
