Trouble for claiming Stepson is Son? :/

[Janice Johnson]

Let's say a 36 year old Multimillionaire has a 5 year old Stepson that he wants to give some Millions to after he dies. He doesn't know what age his Stepson will die, but he knows he wants his Stepson to outlive him so that his Stepson can get to use his Millions after he dies. He doesn't want to be seen as a Creepy, Weird, Perverted Creep for naming his 5 year old STEPSON as Heir/Beneficiary, so in his Will, he writes "Son," instead of Stepson. How much trouble could he get into for falsely claiming his STEPSON is his Son in the Will?

[Janice Johnson]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

He can't get into any trouble. The only bad thing that can happen is the kid might not get the money. Anyone else who's entitled to a share of the estate could contest the clause. If it's really clear that the millionaire meant the stepson, then the stepson will probably win, but it would delay payment and cost legal fees.

A good will says right near the top: these are the people I'm giving stuff to. Name, relationship, birthdate if you have it. It's also a good idea, if there's someone close who you want to exclude, that you say that explicitly. Otherwise, they can contest the will, saying they were mistakenly omitted.

So, all he has to do is be like," I , James Maxwell Kensington, want to give "Patrick Alexander Smith, my Stepson, born March 2, 2016, 10 Million dollars upon my Death?" Another question, can he get into trouble for writing say,"Pat Alexander Smith," instead of Patrick Alexander Smith, because the Family most likely would call him Pat and not Patrick.... I also wonder if there could be complications if say James and Patricia divorce and Patrick is no longer James's Stepson, but now his Ex Stepson.... :/

[Janice Johnson]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

There can be complications in anything in the law. That's why it's best to just be very methodical and cover every possibility. So when you could say, "Patrick 'Pat' Alexander Smith, my Stepson, born March 2, 2016, 10 Million dollars upon my Death..." then you might want add that you want to give him the money even if you get divorced from his mother, or if she dies.

The other side to this is that you're mostly trying to avoid fluky outcomes. If you call Patrick 'Pat," then someone has to object to giving him the money, and then they have to be willing to go to court and maybe wait a long time to get whatever money they're supposed to get. Most people would rather just get some money in their hands quickly.

Just to wrap it up, if you're designing a will right now, get a lawyer to at least look it over. If there's enough money for people to fight over, there's enough to spend some of it to avoid problems later.

Hmm. You bring up a valid point about the possibility of Patricia dying, meaning that technically, with Patricia dead, James is no longer legally bonded to Patrick anymore, although he might still choose to give Patrick those 10 Millions, as a nice gesture to soothe Patrick's grief a little with his Mother dead(And his Stepfather dead in the Future since the hypothetical Will specifically states that James has to be DEAD before Patrick gets those Millions.)