Wisconsin Statutes 852.14 – Inheritance by a parent who abandons a child
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Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 852.14
- Following: when used by way of reference to any statute section, means the section next following that in which the reference is made. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Minor: means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years, except that for purposes of investigating or prosecuting a person who is alleged to have violated a state or federal criminal law or any civil law or municipal ordinance, "minor" does not include a person who has attained the age of 17 years. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Person: includes all partnerships, associations and bodies politic or corporate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Personal representative: means a person, however denominated, who is authorized to administer a decedent's estate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Probate: Proving a will
- Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; "year" alone means "year of our Lord". See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
(1) In this section, “abandoned” means failed without cause to do all of the following for at least one year immediately before the death of a minor child:
(a) Communicate with the minor.
(b) Care for the minor as required by law or court order.
(c) Provide for the minor’s maintenance or support as required by law or court order.
(2)
(a) A personal representative of a minor who died intestate who has actual knowledge or reasonable cause to believe that the minor was abandoned by a parent shall file a petition with the probate court with jurisdiction for a determination that the parent abandoned the child.
(b) Any interested person may file a petition with a probate court with jurisdiction for a determination that a parent of a minor who died intestate abandoned the minor.
(3) Notwithstanding s. 852.01 (1), if a court determines that a parent abandoned his or her minor child and the child died intestate while a minor, the parent may not inherit from the child’s estate under s. 852.01. If a parent is barred from inheriting from a child’s estate under this section, the child’s estate passes under s. 852.01 as if the parent predeceased the child.
(4) A parent who is barred from inheriting from a child’s estate under sub. (3) is not considered an heir of the child beginning on the date a court determined that the parent abandoned the child.