Article: Children as Non-owners in U.S. Family Law and Inheritance Law

U.S. family law and inheritance law take seemingly opposite approaches to support of minor children. Living parents must provide support, but almost every state permits testators to disinherit even minor children. This Chapter, a contribution to the Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Family Law and Finances, resolves the tension: both strands of family property law position children as entitled to an ownership stake in neither their families’ nor their society’s wealth. As non-owners, children’s rights to familial and social resources are limited, with potentially serious consequences for their life chances. Understanding how U.S. law fails to guarantee minors’ access to property raises important questions about children’s status within both the family and the polity.