An unfortunate fact of life is that some parents and children do not see eye to eye and, consequently, are not a factor in each others lives. In circumstances such as this it is not uncommon that the parent seeks to exclude the child from inheriting anything from the estate and wish to take measures to assure it. In this situation, the best option is create a will that explicitly disinherits the child. That is the only surefire way to avoid any portion of the estate going to them since intestacy laws tend to strongly favor children even when a spouse is alive. However, a complete exclusion is not always necessary and smaller gifts can be left instead when the relationship has been distant rather than hostile. While some might scoff at a reduced inheritance, giving something when the beneficiary expects nothing can still make one final effort to mend fences even if beyond the grave.
See Quentin Fottrell, Can my 40-year-old long-lost daughter get my estate?, Market Watch, February 5, 2016.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
