Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas
No will estranged children
My husband's father recently passed away. He had remarried and was basically estranged from his three children. His current wife is evasive and won't say if he left a will or not, but family members are virtually sure he didn't. Will the estranged children share any inheritance with his current wife or will his current wife inherit everything if he left no will? At any rate, what would need to be done to settle the matter one way or another? Thanks for the info
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: No will estranged children
The children will have an interest in both personal and real property if no will is left. For real property, the wife will have the right to occupy the property but the kids will have an ownership interest in it so when property sold or wife dies, then kids will be able to liquidate the real property. For personal property, kids can force liquidation now. Need to retain an attorney to file an application for appointment of administrator in county where Dad died. Call if live in North Texas.
John Pfister
972-712-9208
Re: No will estranged children
His children are entitled to 2/3rds of his separate personal property and all of his separate real property (generally, whatever he owned prior to his second marriage), and 1/2 of the community property (i.e., things acquired during his second marriage). However, if land is involved, the surviving spouse may have a life estate in the land until her death, which means the children will have to wait until then to get the last 1/3. It can get complicated, because some land can be split up and other can't, and because dad could have owned it as a joint tenant, giving the survivor full ownership. If you're in the Austin area, give me a call.
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