Disinheritance, the act of excluding someone from receiving assets in a will or trust, is a sensitive yet crucial aspect of estate planning. In Creek County, you have the right to decide how to distribute your assets, but you must follow specific laws and procedures to ensure that disinheritance is legally valid. Understanding how disinheritance works can help you create an estate plan that reflects your wishes while avoiding potential legal challenges.

Can You Disinherit Anyone in Creek County?

In Oklahoma, you generally have the right to disinherit almost anyone, with a few key exceptions. While you can exclude many beneficiaries from your will or trust, there are special protections in place for certain individuals.

Under Oklahoma law, you cannot completely disinherit your spouse without their consent. Known as the elective share, this gives the surviving spouse the right to claim a percentage of the estate. However, the exact percentage depends on the length of the marriage and the value of the estate.

While children have no legal right to inherit, disinheriting a child becomes more complicated if you don’t clearly state it. Oklahoma law allows parents to disinherit children, but the language must be explicit and unambiguous. If the will is unclear, the court may presume you accidentally omitted the child. This is especially the case with pretermitted children, or those born after the will was executed.

You can generally disinherit other relatives, such as siblings, cousins, or extended family members, without specific restrictions. However, you must provide clear documentation in your estate plan to ensure it carries out your intentions.

How to Properly Disinherit Someone in Oklahoma

To ensure a smooth disinheritance, the will or trust document must explicitly state your intention to disinherit the person. Merely omitting the individual from the will could lead to legal disputes, with the disinherited person arguing that the omission was an oversight. For example, when disinheriting a child, use clear language, such as: “I intentionally make no provision for my child [name].” This direct language minimizes the risk of a court interpreting the omission as accidental.

To reduce the likelihood of legal challenges, some individuals leave a small inheritance (such as a nominal amount of money) to the person they intend to disinherit and explicitly state that there are no additional provisions. This approach helps avoid claims that they mistakenly left the person out.

The only way to entirely disinherit your spouse is if they willingly waive their right to the elective share. This is often through a prenup or postnuptial agreement, in which the spouse agrees to waive their rights to inheritance.

If you intend to disinherit someone, it is essential to follow the proper legal procedures to prevent challenges or misunderstandings.

Contesting a Disinheritance

Even when you clearly state a disinheritance, some individuals can still contest it in certain cases. Common grounds for contesting disinheritance include:

• Undue Influence: If the disinherited person believes that the testator (the person making the will) was unduly influenced or coerced by another party to exclude them from the will, they can challenge the will in court.
• Lack of Capacity: Another potential argument is that the testator lacked the mental capacity to create or modify the will when making the disinheritance.
• Fraud or Duress: Allegations of fraud or duress can also form the basis for contesting a disinheritance if the individual believes the will was altered under dishonest circumstances or is otherwise invalid.

To reduce the risk of disputes, consult with an estate planning attorney who can ensure the disinheritance is legally sound.

Creek County Estate Planning Attorneys

In Oklahoma, disinheritance is a legally valid option, but you must handle it carefully to ensure it holds up in court. Whether you are disinheriting a spouse, child, or other relative, using clear and explicit language in your will or trust is crucial. Spouses have special legal protections, so completely disinheriting them requires additional steps, such as a spousal waiver.

Our estate planning attorneys at Creek County Attorneys can help you with the disinheritance process. Call us at 918-209-3709 for a free and confidential consultation or ask a legal question here.