Which statement is true regarding stepchildren and foster children?

The accurate assertion regarding stepchildren and foster children is that they have no inheritance rights unless adopted.

In the context of inheritance laws, stepchildren and foster children typically do not have legal claims to their stepparents' or foster parents' estates unless formal adoption proceedings have taken place. Through adoption, the legal relationship is established, granting the adopted child rights similar to those of biological children, including inheritance rights. Without this formal relationship, stepchildren and foster children are generally excluded from intestate succession, which is the legal process that determines the distribution of an estate when there is no will.

Other options may misrepresent the legal standing of these relationships. For instance, stating that they inherit automatically from stepparents is misleading, as inheritance through a stepparent typically requires legal recognition through adoption. Similarly, while they may inherit from biological parents, this statement does not specifically pertain to the relationship with stepparents or foster parents, thus lacking context to the question. The claim that they can inherit like adopted children oversimplifies the legal distinctions in inheritance rights and fails to acknowledge the necessity of formal adoption for such rights to apply in the case of stepchildren and foster children.