Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Indiana
Do I need to worry about stepchildren?
My husband and I live in Indiana. He was married before and had three children, who are now in their thirties. He and I started with nothing....got married, bought a house had a child and now the house is paid for and we have accumulated a few nice things. My husband tells me that in Indiana if he should pass away, I automatically will get all...including house, 401K, ect. Then when I die, our daughter will be the only legal one to inherit everything. He said the other three will recieve nothing, because they are not of our union. I wish to protect myself and our daughter since we haven't laid eyes on the other two for twenty some years. Please advise...and thank you in advance.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Do I need to worry about stepchildren?
Obviously your husband has some ambivalence about writing a will which excludes his other children in order to clarify what he says Indiana law would provide. You should cheerfully spend a few hundred dollars for an office consultation with a lawyer who has experience in probate law. Indiana law does not exclude the children of a prior marriage from inheriting. It does exclude the spouse of a prior marriage. If your property situation is set up so that you have been a joint owner with everything, then it is likely that you will own everything outright in the event of your husband's death, and upon your death the property will go to your children. But if you die first, then he will own everything outright, and if he doesn't have a will, then the property will be divided equally among all his children. Good luck getting your husband to get involved in his death planning.
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