Inheritance rights of natural children if intestate parent is divorced

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

My father divorced my mother in 1973. Several months later he remarried a widow with children of her own. If my father dies intestate, do I and my two sisters have any legitimate inheritance claims against his estate, or would all go to my stepmother automatically. This is especially important, because three years ago my older brother died intestate, and my father got half of his estate. I don't know why those assets should be considered marital property. There are other lesser points to add, but based on the situation, would we have any claim, or is it just tough luck for the children of his first marriage?

852.01 Basic rules for intestate succession.

852.01(1)
(1) Who are heirs. Except as modified by the decedent's will under s. 852.10 (1), any part of the net estate of a decedent that is not disposed of by will passes to the decedent's surviving heirs as follows:


852.01(1)(a)
(a) To the spouse:


852.01(1)(a)1.
1. If there are no surviving issue of the decedent, or if the surviving issue are all issue of the surviving spouse and the decedent, the entire estate.


852.01(1)(a)2.
2. If there are surviving issue one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse, one-half of decedent's property other than the following property:


852.01(1)(a)2.a.
a. The decedent's interest in marital property.


852.01(1)(a)2.b.
b. The decedent's interest in property held equally and exclusively with the surviving spouse as tenants in common.


852.01(1)(b)
(b) To the issue, per stirpes, the share of the estate not passing to the spouse under par. (a), or the entire estate if there is no surviving spouse.


852.01(1)(c)
(c) If there is no surviving spouse or issue, to the parents.


852.01(1)(d)
(d) If there is no surviving spouse, issue or parent, to the brothers and sisters and the issue of any deceased brother or sister per stirpes.


852.01(1)(f)
(f) If there is no surviving spouse, issue, parent or issue of a parent, to the grandparents and their issue as follows:


852.01(1)(f)1.
1. One-half to the maternal grandparents equally if both survive, or to the surviving maternal grandparent; if both maternal grandparents are deceased, to the issue of the maternal grandparents or either of them, per stirpes.


852.01(1)(f)2.
2. One-half to the paternal relations in the same manner as to the maternal relations under subd. 1.


852.01(1)(f)3.
3. If either the maternal side or the paternal side has no surviving grandparent or issue of a grandparent, the entire estate to the decedent's relatives on the other side.


852.01(2)
(2) Survivorship requirement. Survivorship under sub. (1) is determined as provided in s. 854.03.


852.01(2m)
(2m) Heir who kills decedent. If a person under sub. (1) killed the decedent, the inheritance rights of that person are governed by s. 854.14.


852.01(3)
(3) Escheat. If there are no heirs of the decedent under subs. (1) and (2), the net estate escheats to the state to be added to the capital of the school fund.


852.01 - ANNOT.
History: 1977 c. 214, 449; 1981 c. 228; 1983 a. 186; 1985 a. 37; 1987 a. 222; 1987 a. 393 s. 53; 1991 a. 224; 1993 a. 486; 1997 a. 188; 2005 a. 216

for the complete section on intestate succession, go here:

http://nxt.legis.state.wi.us/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=WI:Default&d=stats&jd=ch. 852

junkyarddog said:

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

My father divorced my mother in 1973. Several months later he remarried a widow with children of her own. If my father dies intestate, do I and my two sisters have any legitimate inheritance claims against his estate, or would all go to my stepmother automatically. This is especially important, because three years ago my older brother died intestate, and my father got half of his estate. I don't know why those assets should be considered marital property. There are other lesser points to add, but based on the situation, would we have any claim, or is it just tough luck for the children of his first marriage?

Click to expand...

DO note that the intestate estate does NOT consist of assets that pass OUTSIDE probate:

Examples would be

real estate owned as Joint Tenants (the surviving Jt Tenant automatically becomes the full owner of the decedants Joint tenant interest)

life insurance benefits paid to a named beneficiary

401K and/or IRAs that have named beneficiaries

jointly held accounts that are set up to go to a co-owner at death.

Also, if he's been remarried since 1973, the majority of household belongings at this point would pretty much belong to BOTH.

I have a hell of a time trying to copy and paste from a PDF so go to this link:

http://www.legis.state.wi.us/statutes/Stat0766.pdf

and go to page 3 (I think) 766.31(7)

I did not read then entire section nor was my research very thorough but from what I see, the property your father recieved from your brothers estate would not be considered marital property which would give you and sis rights to a percentage which (again without very thorough reading) should be 50% split between you and any siblings of yours.

Do some reading of your own to determine for yourself what you are entitled to. There may be other items not considered "marital property" but I only looked for the specific situation involving your brothers estate.