Though that may sound valid, it does not mean the adopted child will be neglected or be looked down upon. When a child is being adopted, she or he will have a fighting chance for their fair share of their adopted parents’ assets. As long as the child is legally adopted and with all legal papers works in place, then the adopted child is a legal child of the couple. 

What does inheritance law say about inheritance rights between adopted children and biological children?

Under adopted children inheritance law, the adopted child share the same legal rights to their adoptive parents’ assets and properties as their biological children. There are no differences, explicit or implicit, when it comes to the adopted child’s legal ability to inherit. 

By law, the adopted child is legally equal to the biological child. If you are an adopted child reading this in Malaysia, you can put your doubts to sleep. You do not have to worry about being unable to inherit from your adoptive parents. 

Even if your adoptive parents die without leaving a will behind, you will still be able to inherit from them as their legally adopted child. So you do have a fighting chance to get your share of your inheritance from your adopted parents. You can also even contest and challenge your adoptive parents’ wills if you need to. Pretty much you can do whatever a biological child can do.

What if your biological parents want to leave their assets for you?

Anything can happen in life. Your biological parents may not be in your life for the most part. However, there’s a good chance that they may still be alive while you are with your adoptive parents. 

Having said that, there’s a solid chance that your biological parents may have assets and wish to leave them to you when they are gone. You can choose to take it or you can choose not to claim it. It is all pretty much up to you whether you want it or not. 

You can also choose to challenge your biological parents’ will and its contents if you want to. It is understandable that you do not wish to be part of their legacy anymore for fair reasons. However, if it’s any good for your prudence, why not just take up the assets anyway? You may find that you can benefit from it in the long term. Who knows what you can get out of it in the future?

What is the best way to protect the inheritance right of adopted children?

To prevent any future hiccups from disallowing the adopted child to inherit their fair share of assets is to have a will legalized. Not only should the will be legalized, it should also be frequently reviewed and updated. That way the adopted child’s share will not be missed or overlooked when the adoptive parents are no longer around.

Including the child’s updated information is a good practice for many parents who adopt. You can ensure that your adopted children will be cared for when you are no longer around for them. Maintaining a current and clear will is an important precaution for anyone at any point in time. 

Fortunately, the adopted child’s ability to inherit is not as complicated as before. It is not as complicated as it seems either. 

Bottom Line

Inheriting assets from adoptive parents isn’t as difficult as it always seems to be. If you have any doubts or need help with will writing, feel free to reach out to us today.

What does it mean to be a godchild?

If you do not know what a godchild is, let me explain it to you in simple language. A godchild is not a biological child or an adopted child. Godchildren do not necessarily enjoy the same benefits as a biological child or an adopted child.

A godchild is someone who has no blood relations with their godparents. They also do not have any legal relations with them. Unlike biological children, when their parents have passed away, their parents’ assets will be passed down to them with or without a will. The same thing with an adopted child – as long as they are legally adopted by their legal guardians, they can inherit their adopted parents’ belongings.

However, for a godchild – it works differently. As a matter of fact, it works so differently for them it is absolutely nothing like what adopted children and biological children get. A godchild has no legal or biological relationships with their godparents. With that being said, they will never inherit any assets from them.

A godparent is appointed to be a child’s spiritual or religious guide. It’s usually formed within a church or religious community. There are no legal relations between the godparent and the godchild. Their relationship is purely limited to within a religious community.

How and when will a godchild be able to inherit assets from their godparents?

Godparents are not necessarily legal guardians of godchildren. That being said, godchildren are not necessarily legal heirs to their appointed godparents. If a godparent wishes to leave their assets to their godchildren, they will have to make it explicitly known in their wills.

The only time when a godchild can inherit from their godparents is when their godparent named them as one of their beneficiaries in their wills. If godchildren are not named as a beneficiary in the wills, then they will receive nothing from their godparents. Always remember that if there are none of their names in the wills, then the godchildren will get nothing. Also note that if the will is not legalized, then it’s less likely that the godchild will be able to inherit anything.

If you are a godparent, you should legalize your will to fortify it. That way your godchild will be able to inherit something from you when you are no longer around. For the most part, godparents and godchildren share an emotional and religious relationship. It does not necessarily need to be a legal relationship unless they choose to. 

A godparent’s role is chosen for their capability to lead a godchild through their religious education. Again, this is not necessarily a legal relationship. Godparents are not necessarily automatically legal guardians of their godchildren. That means godchildren are not automatically legal children of their godparents. 

If both parties wish to have a legal relationship, then the relationship has to be made legal with all legal documents in place. 

Bottom Line

A godchild may not necessarily inherit anything from their godparents. However, if the godparents decide to leave anything behind for their godchildren, they can do so by legally naming them as one of their beneficiaries. 

Declining inheritance in Malaysia seems like an odd thing to do. Who doesn’t like free things when it has great value or is beneficial? It’s difficult to say no to free things that have benefits. However, it is possible to reject or decline inheritance in Malaysia. 

Having said that, there are several reasons why some people reject their portion of their inheritance. The reasons themselves are numerous if not valid. Here are some reasons why some people reject their inheritance in Malaysia. 

Children who are not interested in the properties 

As odd as that sounds, it’s quite a possible situation. Take, for example, a spouse who has passed away and leaves their inheritance to their partner and their children. The spouse may or may not accept the properties and assets. However, their kids may not want it even though they are entitled to claim their share of it. 

The Malaysian Inland Revenue Board and High Court cannot force beneficiaries to accept the deceased’s properties and assets. People can try to convince the children to take up their share of their inheritance. However, no one can force the kids to take it. 

If this is the case, most times the unclaimed inheritance will be left as it is until the children come to claim it. At the same time, no one who owns those properties are allowed to sell it to anyone else. 

How do kids disown or disclaim the inheritance then? 

There are several ways they can disclaim their properties. Although some kids may just not take it for themselves and left it as it is, there are ways to not claim it. Here are some ways the kids can disclaim their share of their inheritance: 

• Give an irrevocable and unqualified refusal to accept their share of the assets
• Make a disclaimer in writing
• Make a disclaim within 9 months of the deceased’s death
• The disclaimer cannot have had benefited from the proceeds of the disclaimed property
• Disclaimer cannot have the assets passed to them indirectly
• Disclaimer cannot have any sort of influence over the contingent beneficiary 

What will happen to the assets then? 

The same thing where if the other owner of the property chooses to sell the property, they will be unable to do so. They cannot sell their share of the properties and assets left to them as it needs the approval of the other beneficiaries too. 

Should the beneficiary who inherits their part of the inheritance pass away, later on, the properties and assets will still go to the other beneficiaries. Then again it depends on what is written and officiated in the deceased’s will left behind. 

If the remaining parent passed away and left their portion to their remaining kids, they can also do that. However, whether if the kids want to claim it or not, it’s another issue. 

What if the kids still do not want to claim their inheritance? 

There can be a lot of reasons the kids don’t wish to claim their inheritance from their parents. Regardless of what their reasons are, the unclaimed inheritance will just be left there just like that. 

However, there is a solution to this if the kids wish to consider it. That is to just claim their inheritance, then sell it to someone else for a sum of money. This is provided that all beneficiaries of the properties and assets are in 100% agreement with the plan. If one beneficiary says no, then the property will remain there. 

Key Takeaway 

You can definitely decline your inheritance in Malaysia if you wish to. However, it is not encouraged as it is not a very socially healthy thing to do. If you don’t want the inheritance left to you by your family members, at least try to sell it or gift it to someone who’d like to have it.