Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington
Rights of widowers children
My fiance lives in Washington state. His wife of 18 years died in 2003 at the age of 40 (she did not have a will at the time of her death). They had 10 acres of property with a home that they lived in (jointly owned by both). At the time of the property purchase in the late 1990s, the wife�s parents bought 20 acres (10 acres for their home and the other 10 acres was given to their daughter and husband, in exchange for him developing and preparing the 20 acres for building), so 10 acres is in the parents name and 10 acres in my boyfriend�s name (after the wife�s death, he took her name off title). They had two children, now ages 19 and 22. Now his adult children are afraid that once we marry, the property will be left to me, if he should die first. They are threatening to take him to court because they say their mom would have wanted them to have the property and since the grandparents originally purchased it, they have a right to it when their dad dies. Our plan is to sell the property in three years, after we get married and retire, then we can build on another property that he�s purchased since we�ve been together. My question is how many rights do adult children have to property if a widower gets re-married? Thank you.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Rights of widowers children
The children have no rights over a widower's property.
If your fiance and his deceased wife held the property with survivorship rights (as husband and wife or as tenants by the entirety), then the property would be owned by the survivor of them, in this case your fiance.
If it is solely in his name, he can do whatever he wants with it. The adult children will have no say in what he does with it. He can keep it, give it away or sell it, his choice.
Your fiance should make a will, however. If he dies without a will, it is possible that his property or other assets that he owns may have to be divided between you and the children. With a will he may determine where the property goes.
Re: Rights of widowers children
Ms. Burns is in OR and this property and the marriage are in WA? I respectfully disagree and believe that the surviving children of the re-married father *MAY* have an interest in their father's estate under WA law.
Elizabeth Powell
Re: Rights of widowers children
This is a GREAT question. I'd be very interested as to the statement "after the wife's death, he took her name off title".
How, exactly, did that happen?
If you want to make an appointment to discuss this, let me know. Elizabeth Powell
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