How to Disinherit Someone: Leaving an Heir Out of Your Will
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To disinherit someone means to deliberately exclude them from inheriting under your will, and to do it correctly, you must explicitly name them in the document and state your intent clearly. To leave an heir out of your will, legally known as disinheriting someone, you must follow specific steps, or a court may treat the omission as an oversight rather than intentional.
This guide is for testators (people creating or updating a will) who are reviewing their estate plan, managing relationships with estranged family members, or revising an outdated will that no longer reflects their wishes. Below, you will find who can and cannot be disinherited under U.S. law, alternatives to full disinheritance, a step-by-step process for doing it correctly, and what happens if a disinherited heir contests your will.
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Table of Contents
Who Can (and Cannot) Be Disinherited?
In most U.S. states, you can disinherit adult children and other relatives freely, but you cannot fully disinherit a spouse without a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.
Spouses
Most states grant a surviving spouse an elective share—the legal right to claim a portion of the deceased spouse's estate, typically between 30% and 50%, regardless of what the will says. A will alone cannot override this right. To waive it, the spouse must sign a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement before or during the marriage. Without such an agreement, disinheriting a spouse entirely is not legally enforceable in most jurisdictions.
Adult Children
In all U.S. states except Louisiana, you can disinherit an adult child. However, you cannot simply leave them out of the document. You must name them explicitly and state your intent to exclude them. An unnamed adult child may be treated as a pretermitted heir (a person accidentally omitted from a will) and a court may award them an intestate share of the estate as if no will existed.
Minor Children
No state permits parents to disinherit children under the age of 18. Even if you state a reason in your will, a minor child will still receive the share they would have inherited under your state's intestate succession laws (the rules that govern inheritance when no valid will exists).
The Louisiana Exception
Louisiana follows a forced heirship rule, which prohibits disinheriting children under the age of 23 or children of any age who are permanently mentally or physically disabled and unable to manage their own finances. If the estate is large enough, it must provide for these heirs regardless of what the will states.
The key rule: naming every potential heir explicitly, even those you intend to exclude, is the most important step in a legally defensible disinheritance.
Alternatives to Disinheritance
Before excluding someone entirely, it is worth considering whether a structured inheritance arrangement might better serve your goals.
- Spendthrift trust — A trust that restricts a beneficiary's direct access to funds and appoints a trustee to authorize specific distributions. Useful when you are concerned an heir will mismanage or quickly exhaust an inheritance.
- Incentive trust — A trust that conditions distributions on the beneficiary meeting certain milestones, such as maintaining employment, completing a degree, or achieving sobriety. Allows you to support an heir while encouraging responsible behavior.
- Special needs trust — A trust designed for heirs who receive government benefits such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income. Direct inheritance could disqualify them from those benefits; a special needs trust allows them to receive supplemental support without affecting eligibility.
- Conditional bequest — A direct inheritance tied to a specific condition, such as the heir reaching a certain age or completing a rehabilitation program. Simpler than a trust but less flexible.
If none of these alternatives fit your situation, the next section explains exactly how to disinherit someone legally and in a way that can withstand a court challenge.
Want to set up a trust instead? LegalNature's revocable living trust form lets you protect assets while keeping control—available for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
How to Disinherit Someone: Step-by-Step
By the end of this section, you will know the exact steps to disinherit someone legally and the language to use.
- Name the person explicitly. Never leave someone out and assume the omission speaks for itself. If you fail to name a child or other potential heir, a court may interpret the absence as an accidental oversight—legally known as a pretermitted heir situation—and award them an intestate share regardless of your actual intent.
- State your intent clearly. Use unambiguous language that leaves no room for interpretation. A standard disinheritance clause reads: "I intentionally make no provision under this will for [full legal name], and this exclusion is not an oversight." Vague or qualified language can invite a challenge.
- Include a brief reason. You are not legally required to explain your decision, but doing so significantly strengthens testamentary intent (the legal standard courts use to evaluate whether your wishes were deliberate and informed). Common reasons include financial independence, estrangement, or prior gifts. Keep the explanation factual and brief.
- Add a no-contest clause. A no-contest clause, also called an in terrorem clause, states that any beneficiary who challenges the will forfeits whatever they would have received under it. This deters heirs who stand to lose something by contesting. Note that no-contest clauses are enforced differently by state, and a disinherited heir with nothing to lose has no financial incentive to comply with one.
- Execute the will correctly. In most states, a valid will requires your signature in the presence of two disinterested witnesses or people who are not heirs and will not inherit under the will. Some states also require notarization. Improper execution is one of the major legal grounds on which a will can be contested, so following your state's formalities precisely is essential.
- Keep your will current. Circumstances change, and an outdated will can produce unintended outcomes. Consider the case of Ernie Banks, the legendary Chicago Cubs baseball player who died in January 2015. Three months before his death, Banks wrote a new will leaving everything to his long-time caregiver and explicitly excluding his wife and three children. His family contested the will on grounds of undue influence—the legal claim that someone improperly pressured the testator into changing their will—and lack of testamentary capacity, citing dementia as a contributing factor on his death certificate. The case illustrates why both the language of your will and the circumstances surrounding its execution matter: a will written when your health or judgment is in question is far more vulnerable to a successful challenge than one executed clearly, with documented intent, while you are in good health.
Review and update your will after any major life change—marriage, divorce, a new child, a significant change in your relationship with an heir, or a substantial shift in your assets. Sections of a will may be updated using a will codicil, but for large will overhauls, it may be more efficient to just craft an entirely new will.
LegalNature's last will and testament form guides you through each required element, including the ability to name and explicitly exclude individuals. Forms are available for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
What Happens If a Disinherited Heir Contests the Will?
A disinherited heir can contest a will throughout the probate process, but in most states they must prove one of four legal grounds: lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, or improper execution.
- Lack of testamentary capacity means the testator did not understand what they owned, who their heirs were, or the nature of the document they were signing at the time of execution. Dementia, severe illness, or medication impairment can support this claim, as the Ernie Banks case demonstrated.
- Undue influence means someone exerted improper pressure over the testator to manipulate the will's contents and is often alleged when a caregiver, new romantic partner, or estranged relative is named as a primary beneficiary shortly before death.
- Fraud means the testator was deceived either about the nature of the document they signed or about facts that influenced their decisions.
- Improper execution means the will was not signed, witnessed, or notarized in accordance with state law.
A clearly written will, executed correctly, with explicit disinheritance language and documented reasoning, is significantly harder to overturn than one that omits explanation or was signed under questionable circumstances. Sequential wills (updated periodically with the disinheritance intact) provide additional evidence that the exclusion was intentional and consistent over time.
If you are concerned about a potential will challenge, an attorney can help you structure your will to minimize risk, but LegalNature's will builder gives you the foundational document to start.
Create Your Last Will and Testament
LegalNature's last will and testament form guides you through every required element, including naming individuals you are explicitly excluding, so your wishes are documented clearly and in compliance with your state's requirements. Forms are available for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you disinherit a child?
Yes—in all U.S. states except Louisiana, adult children can be disinherited. Minor children cannot be disinherited in any state; they will receive the share they would have inherited under intestate succession laws regardless of what a will says. Louisiana applies a forced heirship rule that protects children under 23 and permanently disabled children of any age. In all cases, the key requirement is naming the child explicitly in the will and expressing clear disinheritance intent. Omitting a child without naming them may result in a court treating the omission as an accidental oversight.
Can you disinherit a spouse?
Generally, no. Most states give surviving spouses an elective share right, typically 30–50% of the estate, that cannot be waived by a will alone. A valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is required to waive this right in most states. Without such an agreement, a spouse can elect to claim their statutory share even if the will leaves them nothing.
What is a pretermitted heir?
A pretermitted heir is a child, or in some states, a spouse, who was accidentally omitted from a will, often because the will was written before the child was born. Courts treat this as an oversight rather than intentional disinheritance, and the heir may inherit their intestate share regardless of what the will says. The fix is straightforward: name every potential heir in your will explicitly, even those you intend to leave nothing.
What language should I use to disinherit someone?
Include a clause such as: "I intentionally make no provision under this will for [full legal name], and this exclusion is not an oversight." The language must be unambiguous and leave no room for a court to interpret the omission as accidental. While this sample clause reflects common practice, you should consult an attorney to ensure the language is appropriate for your specific situation and compliant with your state's requirements.
Can a disinherited heir contest my will?
Yes, but they must establish legal grounds: lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, or improper execution. A will that explicitly names the disinherited person, states clear intent, includes documented reasoning, and was properly executed is significantly harder to overturn than one that relies on silence or vague language. Sequential wills and a no-contest clause can further reduce the risk of a successful challenge.
What is a no-contest clause?
A no-contest clause, also called an "in terrorem" clause, states that any beneficiary who challenges the will forfeits whatever they would have received under it. This provision is most effective when the challenging heir has something meaningful to lose. Note that no-contest clauses are enforced differently by state, and a disinherited heir who receives nothing under the will has no financial incentive to be deterred by one.
Is leaving $1 to an heir a good way to disinherit them?
No. Leaving a nominal amount such as $1 creates more administrative burden as a check must actually be issued and delivered to the beneficiary through the probate process without providing any stronger legal protection than an explicit disinheritance clause. The correct approach is to name the person in the will, state that the exclusion is intentional, and briefly explain your reasoning if appropriate.