What Child is This?
When DNA testing surprises the heirs
A pastor friend of mine once defined the difference between faith and knowledge as, “The man has faith it is his child; the woman has knowledge it is.” But today, 23andMe (RIP) can provide that knowledge, too! So what happens when DNA evidence suggests a stranger is a blood relative? The Wall Street Journal shared recently how families are finding claims being filed once a parent dies, and it can be messy, at best.
My father was a good and loving father to me and my siblings. He shared how, when he was growing up, on Saturday nights he and his friends would sow their wild oats—and come Sunday morning they prayed for crop failure! After Mom died, we adult children began hearing rumors that, during WW II and on his way back home, he perhaps produced record crop harvests! He claimed the five of us from our Mom as his children; the rumors hint there were more, all before he married. No actual evidence was ever shown to us. Sadly, he seemed ashamed of himself when it came up, but we reminded him what a good father he was to us.
To avoid any unexpected disputes, lawyers advise people to have a will or a will and a revocable trust that accounts for such scenarios. Estate-planning documents can spell out whether biological children who aren’t known to the family will inherit, overriding state definitions of descendants, said Carole M. Bass, an estate lawyer in New York.
What can you, gentle reader, do as you reach an age where crossing the river is nearer in presence? The WSJ article recommends calling out in writing the names of all family who will inherit, adding language that any family member not specifically named will not inherit. Your local attorney can add language to address this fairly easily. We recommended this to our father, but he couldn’t do it. Fortunately for us, none of the rumored children ever put forth a claim.
My daughter is adopted. As a HS birthday present we submitted a sample to 23andMe, learning she is 89% Eastern European (e.g. Russian, Ukrainian) and nearly 5% Indigenous American Indian: more than Senator Elizabeth Warren! What could happen someday? Will she or her children get a surprise letter from a sibling she never met or knew existed? A cousin? When she is older I plan to have her read this article and prepare her will, with similar language.
 | A guest post by
|
Back from Envirothon. Epic and Teengirl were acceptably successful at the end-of-year tests. Given the success of both their teams last year (2nd in state, 3rd in state), I anticipate they will be placed on strong teams this year. On the other hand, some girls from last year's second high school team are pretty ambitious, so they may bump Epic out.
As I shared last night, I turned in grades. I have half a dozen students I expect to hear from who had lower grades than they expected. Partly they did bad on the final exam, but partly they failed to turn in easy assignments. I dunno what to do about students like that.
My youngest got all A grades this semester. He had two really tough courses, both had labs, and three easier courses. Next semester he's only taking 11 hours, so he can study for the Dentist Aptitude Test (DAT). TBF, 2 of those courses are tough and in his major. He has all As but for one A- in pre-med (pre-dentistry) so he's in a good position.
He's in an odd place. He only needs 21 hours to graduate, but he didn't have enough completed to apply for Dental School starting next fall, so he would have had to wait another year. He only needs 10 hours next year. They also won't do a January admit for him. I told him he'll probably enjoy having a light senior year!