Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

Hi,

I have a question: my Aunt and her husband are senior citizens and both retired (she is 68 and he is in his 70�s). They have been together for 27 years, while many of those years they were common law married they did end up having an actual wedding ceremony and getting legally married 6 or 7 years ago.

When they met she had two children of her own and he had sole custody of his three children as his previous wife had died shortly after childbirth so my Aunt was a mother to and helped raise his three children as well. The children and stepchildren are all now long grown up and married with children of their own. My Aunt and he also ended up raising two of their grandchildren and though both grandchildren are now grown one is mentally disabled and still lives with them and likely always will.

Through the years they have accumulated a decent amount of assets together. They own a home together and a 2nd home that they rent out, two vehicles as well as a few savings accounts and checking accounts and many other nice material things.

My Aunt�s husband has a few health issues and thus my Aunt has long been trying to talk to him about a will as she fears that after one of them passes that the children will try to stake a claim to some of their assets and thus the surviving spouse will end up in probate court and the time and cost of that will squander away the meager amount of money that they have saved. He is very, very stubborn in his stance and belief that in Texas (if the children are all grown) that everything will automatically go to the surviving spouse. This issue has caused my Aunt a lot of stress as he absolutely refuses to do anything legally concerning a will.

I have done some research on Texas law and from what I�ve found his belief is totally unfounded and wrong and my findings suggest they indeed need a will.

Here�s the question: is he right or wrong in his belief that the children will have no legal right to any of the marital accumulated assets or not ? Secondly, does my Aunt have any recourse since he refuses to budge on this issue ?

Thank you for any information that you can offer.


Asked on 8/19/14, 11:36 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Arthur Geffen Arthur H. Geffen, P.C.

They absolutely need wills stating what will happen to their property. Given what you written, prior marriages, children from prior marriages, common law issues, etc, if your Aunt survives her spouse, she is going to have one gigantic expensive mess.

Run, don't walk to your nearest Estate Planning Attorney

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Answered on 8/19/14, 11:50 am


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