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 Hawaii, the law does recognize the rights of pretermitted heirs. Under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 560:2-302, if a child is born or adopted after the execution of a will and the will does not provide for that child, the omitted child may still inherit. The statute assumes that the omission was unintentional unless it is evident that the disinheritance was deliberate, or the child was provided for outside of the will (e.g., through a trust). The pretermitted child is typically entitled to a share of the estate equal to what they would have received if the decedent had died intestate (without a will). However, if it can be shown that the will's omission was intentional, or the child was provided for by some other means, the child may not have a right to an inheritance. It's important to note that these protections do not apply if the decedent's will explicitly disinherits the child or otherwise indicates an intention not to provide for them. Additionally, Hawaii law does not generally entitle children to inherit from their parents if the parents have made a valid will that disposes of their property in a different manner, except for the protections afforded to pretermitted children.