Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

If your husband dies, it depends on how the property is owned and how his Will distributes his assets in order to determine what share you will receive, if any. If you divorce, as long as the house was acquired during marriage, it will most likely be considered a marital asset, though there are exceptions. I would need more facts to give you definitive answers.

Assuming that your are in Pennsylvania at the time any divorce is filed, you are entitled to share in any property that was acquired during the marriage, regardless of how it is titled. However, as the land is also owned by your brother-in-law, you only can get a share of your husband's portion. However, I do not know what other assets there are and it may be that you will get other assets in lieu of this property.

If your husband died, the land would be part of his estate and will pass as he directs in his will, if there is one. You have the right to seek an elective share if adequate provision is not made for you. Again, I do not know what assets exist and if assets other than this land will suffice. If there is no will, the land passes as per the intestacy law. Each state's law is different and would be as per the intestacy law of the state where your husband resided at the time of his death. Generally, surviving spouses and any adopted/biological children share

in the estate. I also do not know how the land is titled. If the land is owned as a tenancy in common withthe brother-in-law, then only 1/2 of the land will pass to you and any children by intestacy or via the will. If the land is a joint tenancy with right of survivorship and your husband died first, then the land would automatically pass at death to the brother-in-law. An exception would be if there were insufficient funds in your husband's estate. The land might have to be sold (assuming the brother in law did not want to buy your husband's share) and your husband's share of the proceeds put in his estate.

There are so many possibilities that it is not possible to give you a definite answer until either you decide to divorce or your husband dies.