Chapter F. Inheritance By Half Bloods

JurisdictionWashington
F. INHERITANCE BY HALF BLOODS

The term "half blood" refers to the relationship between individuals who have the same father or the same mother but not both parents in common.64 Most statutes do not distinguish this type of relationship from the whole-blood relationship in terms of describing intestate takers.65 Heirs of the half blood are given the same share under the

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Washington statute66 that they would have received had they been of the whole blood,67 with the following qualification: property of the intestate that came to him or her by descent, devise, or gift68 from an ancestor, or from blood kindred of an ancestor, may be inherited only by takers who are also of the blood of that ancestor. To illustrate:

C-1 and C-2 are half brothers, sharing the blood of their father. Upon the death of C-2, C-1 will be treated as a whole blood for purposes of inheriting from C-2 (assuming for our purposes that C-1, as a brother, is the first taker under the intestacy statute). If, however, the property in the estate of C-2 is identifiable as property inherited from an ancestor of his mother, or blood kindred of an ancestor of his mother's line, including here his mother, her parents, and his maternal uncle, then C-1 will be prohibited by RCW 11.04.035 from inheriting that ancestral property,69 because he is not of the same blood as that ancestor of C-2. C-1 will be able to inherit any other property of C-2 that is not traceable to an ancestor of C-2 who is of different blood than C-1, including property traceable to C-1's ancestors on their father's side, because C-1 is of the same blood as those ancestors.70

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The concept of ancestral property was carried to an extreme in In re Estate of Little.71 There, mother-2 had inherited property that she later conveyed to her husband in exchange for his agreement to assume and pay the mortgage on the property. When the husband died, mother-2 again obtained the property, this time pursuant to a community property agreement. The day before mother-2 died intestate, she deeded the property to C-2. (A portion of the property was specifically excluded from the deed and C-2 inherited that portion from mother-2.)72 Over 40 years later, C-2 died intestate. Her heirs consisted of a group who were "issue of parents" (descendants of mother-1 and C-2's father) and a group who were "issue of grandparents" (descendants of the parents of mother-2). As indicated, under RCW 11.04.035 half bloods...

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