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 New Jersey, the law does recognize the rights of pretermitted children, or children who were unintentionally omitted from a will. Under New Jersey's probate laws, if a child is born to or adopted by a testator (the person who made the will) after the execution of the will, and the will does not provide for that child, then the child may have a right to a share of the estate. This is to ensure that the child is not accidentally disinherited. The share is typically the amount the child would have received if the testator had died intestate (without a will). However, if it can be demonstrated that the omission was intentional, or if the child was provided for outside of the will (e.g., through a trust), the child may not be entitled to an inheritance. It's important to note that these protections do not apply if the will was made with the express intention of not providing for the child, or if the testator had one or more children and devised substantially all of the estate to the other parent of the omitted child. These rules are codified in the New Jersey Revised Statutes, specifically in the section pertaining to wills, estates, and probate.