Share of omitted children, how determined
When someone makes a will and later has a child (or adopts one) that the will does not mention, that child still gets a share of the estate — the same share they would have gotten if there was no will at all. But this does not happen if the will shows the omission was on purpose, if the parent left almost everything to the child's other parent, or if the parent already gave the child money or property outside the will as a replacement for an inheritance. If a parent left a living child out of a will only because they wrongly thought that child was dead, the child still gets their fair share. An illegitimate child is only counted as the male parent's child if that parent recognized the child as his own during his lifetime or in the will.
474.240. Share of omitted children, how determined. — 1. If a fails to provide in his will for any of his children born or adopted after the of his will, the omitted child receives a share in the equal in value to that which he would have received if the testator had died , unless:
(1) It appears from the will that the was intentional;
(2) When the will was the testator had one or more children and substantially all his estate to the other parent of the omitted child; or
(3) The testator provided for the child by outside the will and the intent that the transfer be a is shown by statements of the testator, the amount of the transfer or other evidence.
2. If at the time of the testator fails to provide in his will for a living child solely because he believes the child to be dead, the child receives a share in the estate equal in value to that which he would have received if the testator had died intestate.
3. An is not a child of a male testator, for the purposes of this section, unless the testator, during his lifetime or in the will, that the child was his.
4. In satisfying a share provided in this section, the devises made by the will as provided in section 473.620.
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Source & history notes
(L. 1955 p. 385 § 260, A.L. 1980 S.B. 637) Effective 1-01-81 (1989) Child omitted from parent's will is not entitled to inherit unless he is born or adopted after the execution of the will. Statute does not require that child be "recognized" as such by parent or that the child be legitimate. Moyer v. Walker, 771 S.W.2d 363 (Mo.App.S.D.).
Legal information, not legal advice. Always confirm with the official source at revisor.mo.gov.