the child of a person who has written a will in which the child is not left anything
and is not mentioned at all. After the death of the parent, a pretermitted heir
has the right to demand the share he/she would have received as an heir under the
laws of distribution and descent. The reasoning is that the parent either inadvertently
forgot the child or incorrectly believed the child was dead, and did not mean to
leave him/her out. Thus, if someone wishes to disinherit a child or omit him/her
from his/her will, that parent should specifically state in the will "I leave nothing
to my son, Gordon," with or without a reason. Otherwise there may be unfair and
unintended results. Example Tommy Testator has three children, gives two of them
$10,000 each, and the remainder (which turns out to be a million dollars) to set
up a scholarship fund for orphans. His omitted child, who has not spoken to him
for 20 years, is a pretermitted heir entitled to one-third of the estate, and will
receive $340,000 compared to his siblings' specified $10,000 each.
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