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Reforming Intestate Inheritance For Stephchildren And Stepparents, Terin Cremer

Terin Barbas Cremer

The current Uniform Probate Code (UPC) and state statutes relating to stepfamilies fail to achieve the purpose of intestacy statutes: to satisfy the likely intent of the decedent of a blended family and care for his or her family. More than one-half of all Americans have lived in, are currently living in, or will live in, a stepfamily, yet stepchildren and stepparents are excluded from intestate succession. The UPC drafters developed the language at a time when blended families were the exception rather than the norm. This Article proposes statutory language consisting of a series of factors courts can use …