Probate Laws

• A parent may disown his child in Oregon if he states in his will that this is his intention. The child could have a potential claim if the will doesn't mention him at all, however. The Oregon State Bar recommends that if a parent wants to exclude a child from his will, he should speak with an attorney. Certain language should be included to indicate that this was done on purpose. Otherwise, the child could contest the will and say that the parent just forgot to mention him.
  
  

Intestacy Laws

• If a child's father passes away without leaving a will, Oregon's intestacy laws go into effect. If her parents are married at the time of the father's death, and if her father has no other children by another relationship, then the entire estate passes to her mother, the deceased's spouse. If her parents aren't married when her father dies, she can potentially inherit his entire estate. If he doesn't leave a surviving spouse, then his children of all relationships divide his estate equally between them. If he's married upon his death, then his children from all relationships divide half of his estate equally between them, and his surviving spouse gets the other half. If the child is her father's only offspring and he's not married, she inherits everything.
  
  

Paternity

• If paternity was never established and the father doesn't leave a will, a child might have a hard time inheriting. Under Section 112.105 of Oregon's statutes, if his parents were never married and his father's name doesn't appear on his birth certificate, then his father must have acknowledged paternity in writing sometime during the child's lifetime to establish the relationship. If a paternity test was ever ordered by the court, this also establishes their relationship.
  
  

Tips

• A child born after the death of her father can still inherit under Oregon's intestacy laws. However, Oregon courts don't transfer the father's assets to a minor child. The court appoints someone to oversee the inheritance until she reaches the age of majority. Generally, this would be her mother.