Oklahoma has some unusual laws when it comes to step-children and half-blood relatives, especially in the intestate inheritance laws. Just as a reminder, intestate merely means that the person who passed away died without a will, and so the state’s inheritance laws are in effect. Oklahoma’s statute, Okla. Stat. tit. 84, § 213 (1994), is the state’s Intestacy law/code, if you are interested in reading the statute yourself.
Stepchildren are not able to inherit through the intestate system in Oklahoma. Only blood children are able to take from the estate. It’s as simple as that. If you want your stepchildren to inherit part of your estate, you need to get estate planning in place (a will is a good place to start), so that they are able to. Otherwise, your blood children, spouse, and other blood relatives will take from the estate.
In Oklahoma, half-blood children have their own special rules, which can be viewed as harsh. Half-blood children/relatives are not be able to inherit “ancestral property,” but are able to inherit all other property and assets. “Ancestral property” is property that the decedent (half relative who passed away) acquired by gift, devise, or inheritance. In other words, half-blood children or relations will not be able to receive any intestate property that was given to the decedent by an ancestor who is not also an ancestor of the half-blood relation. Okla. Stat. tit. 84, §222. However, half-blood relatives are able to inherit ancestral property when full-blood relatives are more remotely decended. See In Re Estate of Robbs. Therefore, a half-blood would not be able to inherit ancestral property if there is whole-blood kindred of the same or closer degree of relative. For example, if A & B were full blood relatives, and B & C were half-blood relatives, A would receive the B’s entire ancestral estate, leaving C to receive 1/2 or whatever portion he was entitled to without ancestral property included. Half-blood intestate inheritance can be a little confusing, and is a major source of probate litigation in Oklahoma. If you have any questions, feel free to call us today for any explanation of the law and to see how you can avoid this problem with a will.
Adopted children in Oklahoma have an advantage not available in many states to them: double inheritance. In Oklahoma, an adopted child can inherit from and through his/her natural parents as well as their adopted parents. The converse is not available, however. The adopted parents cannot inherit through the child they gave up for adoption. Adopted children, therefore, will be able to inherit through intestacy just as if the child was a maternal or paternal child.
Skillern Law Firm can help craft all different types of wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents that allow your children (of all sorts) inherit your property without worrying about Oklahoma Intestate Law. Please call us today for more information.
