Except in limited circumstances, children generally do not have a right to inherit anything (real property or personal property) from their parents. Laws do vary from state to state and in some states, for example, the head of a household may be prohibited from leaving the family homestead to anyone other than a surviving spouse or minor child if such person is alive.

And most states have laws that protect children (and sometimes grandchildren) against accidental inheritance in certain limited circumstances. These laws usually apply when a child is born after a parent’s will is executed, and because the will leaves property to the child’s siblings, it appears that the parent did not intend to disinherit the new child. In this circumstance the child who was not mentioned in the will may be eligible to inherit a portion of the estate like the child’s siblings. Such an omitted child is also known as a pretermitted child or a pretermitted heir.

In states with pretermitted child laws, the laws are usually located in the state’s statutes—often in the estates code or probate code.

In Arkansas, as in many states, children do not have an automatic right to inherit from their parents, except under certain circumstances. Arkansas law does provide protections for children who may have been unintentionally omitted from a will. According to Arkansas Code Annotated § 28-39-401, if a child is born or adopted after the execution of a will and the will does not provide for that child, nor show an intention to disinherit the child, then the child may have a right to a share of the estate. This share is typically the portion they would have received if the parent had died without a will (intestate). This is to ensure that the omission was not accidental. However, if it can be demonstrated that the omission was intentional, the child may not have a right to inherit. Additionally, if the parent made provisions for the child outside of the will, that may also affect the child's right to inherit under the pretermitted child statute. It's important to note that these protections do not apply if the will was made before the child's birth or adoption and the will expressly states the intention not to provide for any subsequent children.