Saginaw, MI Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

I am assuming that your father is not listed on the death certificate, you were not adopted and your father may not have acknowledged paternity during your lifetime. The biggest problem that an illegitimate child encounters is the issue of paternity. If everyone agrees that the illegitimate child is the child of the parent, then the child would take a part of the property the same as any other child. If, however, as usually happens, some family members deny that the child is the child of the parent, then the illegitimate child has to prove paternity before he would be entitle to take his share of the property. Each state has time limits within which the child must take action to prove paternity. If the child waits too long, he may not inherit even if he can prove paternity. MCL 700.2114 700.2114. Parent and child relationship. Sec. 2114. (1) Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), and (4), for purposes of intestate succession by, through, or from an individual, an individual is the child of his or her natural parents, regardless of their marital status. The parent and child relationship may be established in any of the following manners: (a) If a child is born or conceived during a marriage, both spouses are presumed to be the natural parents of the child for purposes of intestate succession. A child conceived by a married woman with the consent of her husband following utilization of assisted reproductive technology is considered as their child for purposes of intestate succession. Consent of the husband is presumed unless the contrary is shown by clear and convincing evidence. If a man and a woman participated in a marriage ceremony in apparent compliance with the law before the birth of a child, even though the attempted marriage may be void, the child is presumed to be their child for purposes of intestate succession. (b) Only the individual presumed to be the natural parent of a child under subdivision (a) may disprove a presumption that is relevant to their relationship, and this exclusive right to do so terminates upon the death of the presumed parent. (c) If a child is born out of wedlock or if a child is born or conceived during a marriage but is not the issue of that marriage, a man is considered to be the child's natural father for purposes of intestate succession if any of the following occur: (i) The man joins with the child's mother and acknowledges that child as his child by completing an acknowledgment of parentage as prescribed in the acknowledgment of parentage act, (ii) The man joins the mother in a written request for a correction of certificate of birth pertaining to the child that results in issuance of a substituted certificate recording the child's birth. (iii) The man and child have established a mutually acknowledged relationship of parent and child that begins before the child becomes age 18 and continues until terminated by the death of either. (iv) The man is determined to be the child's father and an order of filiation establishing that paternity is entered as provided in the paternity act, (v) Regardless of the child's age or whether or not the alleged father has died, the court with jurisdiction over probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estate determines that the man is the child's father, using the standards and procedures established under the paternity act, If you have any questions, please contact me.

Assets in a trust are distributed outside of an estate in accordance with the terms of the trust. Assets in an estate are distributed in accordance with the terms of the will. If no will, then in accord with the statute on descent and distribution. If no will and there is a surviving spouse and children of the decedent, then ? to the spouse and ? divided among the children, with the descendants of a deceased child dividing the deceased child's share. If the wife owned assets received from a deceased husband then those assets would be part of the wife's estate and distributed in accord with her will or trust, if any. If none, then to her descendants not the husbands descendants.