In most states, including Texas, a child born out of wedlock is an illegitimate child. Rightfully, illegitimate children are treated as heirs in some cases. According to Texas law, they can take advantage of many of the state’s intestacy statutes. However, illegitimate children may not be able to receive inheritances under the state’s intestacy laws. Texas law gives illegitimate children or children born out of wedlock the intestate rights to inherit from their natural mothers but not from their natural fathers.
In Texas, as the natural mother of an illegitimate child, your child has the right to inherit from you, even when you die without a will or die intestate. Conversely, as the biological mother of an illegitimate child, you have a right to inherit from your child through the state’s intestacy statute. However, Texas law does not give an illegitimate child the right to inherit from his or her biological father absent a validly created will or absent certain events. As such, if you are the illegitimate child, you cannot inherit from your biological father unless he created a will and left you an inheritance or you fall within the limited exceptions.
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