Intestate Inheritance

• If a parent dies without leaving a last will and testament, that parent dies intestate. Each state has laws that govern who receives the parent's property when this happens, and children typically stand to inherit property in this situation. For example, in Florida, a child is entitled to at least part of the parent's estate upon his death. However, in some states if the child is the child of the decedent and the surviving spouse, the child is not entitled to anything. In Colorado, for instance, the surviving spouse is entitled to the entire estate upon the decedent's death.
  
  

Children

• In intestacy situations, state laws make no difference between the ages of the children when it comes to determining who inherits. However, state laws leave property to children on either a per-stirpes or a per-capita basis. In a per stirpes state, all children and their descendants are entitled to equal shares. If, for example, a parent had four children but one died before the parent, each child still receives 25 percent of the estate with the deceased child's share passing to his decedents, the decedent's grandchildren. In a per capita state, the share is divided only among the surviving children, so in this situation each surviving child would receive one-third of the estate with the surviving grandchildren of the deceased child receiving nothing.
  
  

Wills

• When a parent wants to choose who receives estate property, he can do so by creating a last will and testament. When a parent creates a will, the terms of that will determine what, if anything, the eldest child receives. The parent can make any inheritance decisions he wishes, and as long as the will complies with state requirements the court will uphold the inheritance details even if they differ from the state's intestacy provisions.
  
  

Disinheritance

• While children of a parent, first born or otherwise, are entitled to inherit property if the parent dies without a will, the parent can effectively disinherit any child by creating a valid last will and testament that leaves no property to the child. State law does not require a parent to leave a child an inheritance, though in some states a parent cannot completely disinherit minor children. These states grant surviving spouses and minor children a right in the family homestead so they are not left homeless.