Texas Estates Code Sec. 201.054: Adopted Child

This section governs how adoption affects inheritance rights under Texas intestacy law. It establishes the adopted child’s inheritance relationship with adoptive parents, limits inheritance through natural parents, and defines who qualifies as an adopted child and adoptive parent for these purposes.

The Statutory Rule

Sec. 201.054. ADOPTED CHILD.

(a) For purposes of inheritance under the laws of descent and distribution, an adopted child is regarded as the child of the adoptive parent or parents, and the adopted child and the adopted child's descendants inherit from and through the adoptive parent or parents and their kindred as if the adopted child were the natural child of the adoptive parent or parents. The adoptive parent or parents and their kindred inherit from and through the adopted child as if the adopted child were the natural child of the adoptive parent or parents.

(b) The natural parent or parents of an adopted child and the kindred of the natural parent or parents may not inherit from or through the adopted child, but the adopted child inherits from and through the child's natural parent or parents, except as provided by Section 162.507(c), Family Code.

(c) This section does not prevent an adoptive parent from disposing of the parent's property by will according to law.

(d) This section does not diminish the rights of an adopted child under the laws of descent and distribution or otherwise that the adopted child acquired by virtue of inclusion in the definition of "child" under Section 22.004.

(e) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Adopted child" means a child:

(A) adopted through an existing or former statutory procedure; or

(B) considered by a court to be equitably adopted or adopted by acts of estoppel.

(2) "Adoptive parent" means a parent:

(A) who adopted a child through an existing or former statutory procedure; or

(B) considered by a court to have equitably adopted a child or adopted a child by acts of estoppel.

Explanation

What it does: This section defines how adoption reshapes inheritance relationships under Texas intestacy law by treating an adopted child as the natural child of the adoptive parent for inheritance purposes.

Adoptive family rule: For intestate succession:

• an adopted child (and the child’s descendants) inherits from and through the adoptive parent and the adoptive parent’s kindred as if biologically related; and
• the adoptive parent and the adoptive parent’s kindred inherit from and through the adopted child in the same manner.

Natural family limitation: The natural parents of an adopted child—and their kindred—generally may not inherit from or through the adopted child.
However, the adopted child may still inherit from and through the child’s natural parents, subject to limitations imposed by the Texas Family Code.

No effect on wills: This section does not restrict an adoptive parent’s ability to dispose of property by will.

Preservation of other rights: The section does not diminish inheritance or other rights that an adopted child may have under the Estates Code’s broader definition of “child.”

Equitable adoption included: For purposes of intestacy, the statute expressly includes children and parents recognized by a court as:

• equitably adopted; or
• adopted by acts of estoppel.

Practice note: This section modifies inheritance relationships but does not determine whether a person qualifies as a child in the first instance. Related parent-child determinations appear in Sec. 201.051 and Sec. 201.052.