When is a child a child?

[pjog]

Hi,

A family member has died. He has no living children or wife/registered partner, but does have one sister. He left no will, so I understand that normally, everything goes to the sister.

We recenlty discovered, that the deceased has being pay child maintenance to someone for the last 17 years. So it would appear he has a child. Without going into detail, there are questions around whether the child is actually his. We do not know whom is registered as the Father on the child's birth certificate.

If the child is his, but has not been part of his life, does the child inherit the deceased's estate?

If the child is not his, has been no part of his life, could the child still inherit the estate given that child maintenance has been paid, potentially indicating that the deceased had taken on some responsibility for the child (even though he is not the actual Father)?

Thanks.

[Connemmara]

dont know the legal law here - but if the child is not legally his - money will or should not go to him

[pjog]

Thanks. So what determines whether the child is legally his?

[Sasha-2008]

The only way would be DNA. There may be a way you can get a test done before the funeral etc so it can be sorted it. Without this all hell could break lose. Sorry

[baileybird]

I would suspect adoption or DNA testing.
If the child is his then of course he should inherit some money.
If the child is not his I would doubt he is entitled to anything.
Are you aware of details of the child's whereabouts, age etc?

[Rollo]

If the deceased is the father of the child then the child is entitled to the whole estate. If the deceased is not the father then the child is entitled to nothing.

The fist thung to be done is to get a copy of the bitrh certificate of the child.

[Barmaid]

First step is to obtain the birth certificate. If the deceased is named as the father there is then a rebuttable presumption that the child is his. However, in view of the uncertainty, or if in fact the deceased is not named on the birth certificate, a DNA test would be preferable. If the deceased's body has been disposed of, the sister can probably be used. If the child is his and has not been adopted by anyone else, the child inherits.

However, irrespective of whether the child is the natural child of the deceased or not, the fact that the deceased appears to have been paying maintenance would give them the right to bring a claim against the estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Again, if the child has been adopted by a third party this will not apply.