Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas
Widow confused
My husband passed away after a short marriage w/o updating will set long before marriage. The trust named his ex-wife executrix to his only son to be disbursed at age 40, the son died shortly after my husband before age 40. The will made no instructions what to do with property should son die before 40. My atty stated it would revert to estate as if now will existed, therefore I and his siblings would have comm property. Now he is saying that when the son died automatically the inherited his estate, the estate consists of rental property with another partner. The income generated montly is about 7k divided equally my husband had before our marriage. The house I live in is the only property we established together in cash with most of the funds from the sale of my husband's other home and from my small contribution. The atty now states that the mother inherits 2/3 because when my husband died, on that very day the son inherited his estate. Why would the trust not be valid. I would appreciate an answer since we are preparing to go into mediation....
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Widow confused
Your questions refers to both a Will and a Trust. If a Will was in effect when your husband was married to his ex, then that will became null and void at the time of divorce and the estate would be distributed as though your husband died without a will. If there was a Trust in effect in which your husband was the trustor, then the trust would probably still be in effect, but I would need to read the document to explain the specific terms. For the community house, you would inherit a life estate in the house and will retain your half of the community interest, if the house was purchased after the marriage. There are also other statutory awards to a surviving spouse. Your attorney should properly advise you as to your status.
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