Can I disinherit my spouse and/or my child(ren)?
You cant disinherit your spouse completely, unless you and your spouse have waived the right to be included in the other’s estate in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement (agreements made before or after the marriage). Each state has laws that shield a surviving spouse from being completely cut off. In most states, the surviving spouse can choose between the property left in the deceased spouses Will or a statutory share set by state law (usually one-third or one-half of the estate). Whether it is advantageous to elect the share specified in state lawgenerous in some states, minor in othersdepends on the rules for calculating this share. There is a remarkable amount of variation in these rules among the states. In a community property state, the surviving spouse already owns half of the community property at the death of the other spouse. Generally you can disinherit an adult child or children. To do so, it is necessary to specifically say in the Will that the omission is intentional.