Foster Children and Estate Planning: Protecting the Ones You Call Family

A foster child may come into your life through the court system, an agency, or your own extended family. However it begins, the relationship can evolve into a deeply personal bond, making the child feel like a true member of your family.

Unfortunately, the law does not always see it that way when it comes to inheritance. Without proper estate planning, your state’s intestacy laws determine who receives your assets when you pass away. Under those laws, a foster child typically has no automatic right to inherit from you unless you have legally adopted them. Even in kinship care situations, inheritance rights may be partial or nonexistent.

Without a written estate plan, those gaps can lead to heartbreak, confusion, and even conflict among your loved ones. The good news is that an estate plan can ensure your foster child is legally protected and provided for on your terms–so they are yours not only in your heart but also in the eyes of the law.

Fostering Stability and Security

Ideally, every child grows up in a loving, supportive home. Yet for the roughly 340,000 U.S. children in foster care as of 20231, stability can be elusive. Many children enter the system due to neglect (rather than physical abuse) and face multiple placements, educational disruptions, and emotional trauma.

About one-third of foster children live with relatives in kinship foster care2, but even those arrangements may lack long-term legal security. Relatives who step up to care for children often face financial strain and legal obstacles, as they do not automatically have the same parental rights or protections. 

Whether you are a licensed foster parent or a family caregiver, providing a safe, loving home changes a child’s life. But without clear legal planning, that security may not last. Good intentions are not enough; only an estate plan can make your wishes legally binding.

Foster Children and Inheritance: What the Law Says

Understanding how inheritance laws treat foster children is essential to building a plan that protects them.

• Biological parents: A foster child can inherit from their biological parents only if parental rights have not been legally terminated. Once those rights are terminated—often before adoption—the inheritance link is severed.
• Foster parents: A foster child does not automatically inherit from foster parents. If you want your foster child to receive part of your estate, you must name them in your will or trust.
• Adoptive parents: Once adoption is finalized, a child gains full legal inheritance rights, just like a biological child.

Even relatives who serve as caregivers (like grandparents or aunts) may not have inheritance rights under state law unless they adopt or include the child in a valid estate plan.

How to Include a Foster Child in Your Estate Plan

You’ve already opened your heart and home—now it’s time to extend your protection through legal planning. Here’s how to make sure your foster child is included:

1. Create or update your will or trust.
   Clearly name your foster child as a beneficiary. Terms like “my children” usually apply only to biological or legally adopted children, so specificity matters.
2. Use a trust to guide how the inheritance is managed.
    A trust lets you direct funds toward your foster child’s specific needs—education, counseling, housing, or healthcare—and can include conditions to release funds responsibly.
3. Choose a trustee who understands your child’s story.
    Select someone who knows your foster child personally and can carry out your wishes with care and sensitivity.
4. Express your wishes about guardianship.
    You cannot legally name a guardian for a foster child in your will, but you can include a statement of intent. This helps guide courts and child welfare agencies in future placement decisions.

Protect the Bond You’ve Built

Becoming a foster parent is an act of courage and compassion. You’ve already done the hard work of offering stability and love–now take the next step to ensure that care continues, no matter what happens in the future.

An estate plan is your opportunity to legally honor the relationship you’ve built and safeguard the future of the child who depends on you. It’s a way to make your intentions clear, your care lasting, and your love legally recognized.

Contact Strauss Attorneys today to create an estate plan that protects your foster child and preserves your family’s legacy for generations to come.

¹  Nicole Davi, Foster Care and Adoption Statistics – AFCARS 2025 Update, NCFA (May 13, 2025), https://adoptioncouncil.org/article/foster-care-and-adoption-statistics.
²  Kinship/Grandfamilies: Strengths and Challenges, Generations United (2025), https://www.gu.org/app/uploads/2025/08/General-Grandfamilies-Fact-Sheet-8.25.pdf.