has no automatic legal claim to your property or other assets unless you specifically leave those assets to them in a will or a trust. The fact that they are your biological or adopted child does not, in and of itself, create an inheritance right under American law. The decision is yours to make.
This is important to understand clearly, because many parents carry a vague assumption — sometimes even a guilty sense of obligation — that their children are entitled to whatever they leave behind simply by virtue of the relationship. That assumption is not legally accurate in most U.S. jurisdictions. As long as you are mentally competent at the time you create or update your estate documents, and as long as the assets in question belong to you, you have the right to decide who receives them after your death. Your estranged adult children may be upset by that decision. They may even challenge it. But the legal foundation for disinheritance of an adult child, when done correctly and explicitly, is solid in most states.
