Omitted or Pretermitted Children Under Wills in Pennsylvania

Short answer Pennsylvania modifies a will when a testator fails to provide for a child born or adopted after making it, unless the will shows the failure was intentional. The child takes from property not passing to a surviving spouse, measured as if the testator had died unmarried and intestate owning only that property. (20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(4).)

State

Pennsylvania

Statute checked

October 5, 2026

Sources

1 statute

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At a glance

Will and child covered	Will modified for testator's later-born or adopted child (§ 2507(4)).
Birth or adoption timing	Child born or adopted after the will was made (§ 2507(4)).
Naming and provision test	Will fails to provide for child; § 2507(4) does not make mention alone the test.
Intentional omission	No share if intentional failure appears from the will (§ 2507(4)).
Other-parent gifts	No other-parent devise exception in § 2507(4); property passing to a surviving spouse is excluded from the share source.
Outside gifts and advancements	§ 2507(4) states no separate outside-will transfer or advancement exception.
Baseline statutory share	Share as if unmarried and intestate, owning only property not passing to surviving spouse (§ 2507(4)).
Effect of gifts to existing children	§ 2507(4) gives no separate existing-child-gift formula.
Property source and abatement	From testator's property not passing to a surviving spouse; § 2507(4) states no ratable-abatement formula.
Trust and nonprobate reach	Will-modification rule; § 2507(4) states no separate trust or beneficiary-designation extension.

Requirements one by one

Later-born or adopted child

§ 2507(4) modifies a will if the testator fails to provide for a child born or adopted after making the will. The exception requires that the intentional failure appear from the will. This paragraph tests provision; it does not say that a bare mention automatically defeats the share.

Share and protected property

The child receives a share only out of property not passing to a surviving spouse (§ 2507(4)). The measure assumes the testator died unmarried and intestate while owning only that remaining property. The spouse-passing property is removed before the statutory comparison.

What trips people up

§ 2507(4) protects property passing to a surviving spouse, whether or not that spouse is the child's other parent. It does not add a separate other-parent exception. The paragraph also does not make an outside-will gift or lifetime advancement an express defense.

Common questions

Must the child have been adopted before the will? No. The provision covers a child adopted after the will was made (§ 2507(4)).

Can facts outside the will alone show the omission was intentional? The statutory exception says the intention must appear from the will (§ 2507(4)).

Does this paragraph order a trust or beneficiary designation to pay the share? Section 2507(4) modifies a will and speaks of the testator's property not passing to a surviving spouse; it states no separate rule for either instrument.

Statutes and sources

20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(4). The verbatim official excerpt, section URL, and access date appear in the source fields above.

Source links

Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.

20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(4) · accessed 2026-10-05

This page gives general information about omitted-child statutes, not advice about a particular child, will, or estate. The will's words, other law, and the facts can change the result. Check current official law and consult a licensed adviser before acting.

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