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 Oklahoma, as in many states, children do not have an automatic right to inherit from their parents unless the parent dies without a will (intestate). If a parent dies with a valid will, they can generally distribute their property as they see fit, which may or may not include provisions for their children. However, Oklahoma does have laws to protect children who may have been unintentionally omitted from a will. Under Oklahoma statutes, specifically Title 84 of the Oklahoma Statutes, a child born or adopted after the execution of a will, who is not provided for in the will, and who is not provided for by any other means, may have the right to a share of the estate. This is consistent with the concept of a pretermitted heir. The share is typically the portion they would have received if the parent had died without a will, as long as the omission was not intentional. This protection ensures that children who are inadvertently left out of a will are not completely disinherited.