After 2 years of marriage they buy a house. 15 year mortgage.
2 years later they have their second child
They pay the mortgage off in 12 years
10 years later Jane passes away right after getting hit by a truck. The will her and Dick made out years earlier stipulate the survivor receives everything.
3 years later Dick meets a nice divorcee named Beth and marries her. Being his wife he puts everything he owns half in her name.
2 years later Dick keels over from a heart attack.
Who owns the house?
Dick put everything half in his wifes name, so I say it’s a no brainer: Beth owns the house.
A certain woman I know is incredulous about that:
"No fcking way! Jane worked to help pay off the house and it ends up being owned by some btch she never met? No, way! Dick & Janes children should receive it!"**
Had the will been drawn up that way, fine. but it wasn’t. People sometimes don’t think about this stuff when they make out their wills and other legal effects.
What is your opinion?
I’m perfectly happy with the scenario you describe being the default outcome, modified by legal documents where necessary.
What Dick does with his worldly goods is Dick’s concern - including bestowing them upon his new wife, or signing them over to a home for abandoned gerbils - the kids haven’t earned the inheritance - there isn’t any inheritance, unless Dick makes it so.
There is nothing in the OP about doing a new will. Putting everything “half in her name” is not the same thing as making out a will. Perhaps the OP meant that Dick made out a new will leaving half of everything to the new wife, but if we take these words literally, it means that the new wife was given title to half the house.
It depends on how exactly the house was titled after he put it “half in her name.” If it was titled as joint tenants with right of survivorship, then she owns the whole house when he dies and even if there is a will, the will cannot change that. If there is no right of survivorship, then she still owns half the house and the other half is divided up according to the terms of his will or according to the intestate laws of his state.
Also, the story is not clear about Dick’s will. Did it specifically mention Jane by name or did it just leave everything to whoever his current spouse is?
The OP also says that Dick and Jane made out a “will” (singular). If it was a joint and mutual will, that could have other implications. Beth and the children should consult a qualified attorneys for legal advice as this can get very complicated.
I don’t get the outrage. Your spouse gets your shit when you die unless otherwise stipulated. The children didn’t earn anything. The dead spouse doesnt need property. The spouse was who you wanted to share your life with.
If the kids are still minors, I doubt wifie #2 will toss them out in the street. They’ll stay in the house, too, & she’ll take care of them. (She’s “nice,” remember?) Let’s hope Dick had some insurance to help with other expenses & the kids’ education. They will grow up, move out & have lives.
If the house had been a fancy River Oaks mansion, Dick should have made more detailed plans. As it is, Beth can stay in the aging Pasadena house. Or sell it & move away…
When Dick remarried he put her name on everything, (very likely with survivor rights, from the sounds of it, though it is somewhat unclear exactly what the OP meant).
When he died it all goes to her, his surviving partner, and as per his choice.
Where’s the confusion? Dick trusted the second wife, just as Jane trusted Dick. This is clearly as Dick intended.
The incredulous woman is lame brained, in my opinion, looking for some recreational outrage, perhaps?
If he left half of everything to the new wife, I’m guessing that the other half of his estate would go to his kids, in which case I don’t think they would have much to gripe about.
I agree that Beth gets the house and it seems intentional. My world doesn’t work that way but it does for some people and that is their right. I don’t think there is a solution that would seem ‘fair’ however. Are you going to let kids kick a widow out of her home just because her husband died? That doesn’t seem right either. The kids should probably get something but that is what careful estate planning is for yet sadly all too rare.
Count me as another who isn’t getting married again either partly because of bullshit like this.
Dick should have made a will leaving some portion of his property to his kids after his first wife died. If there’s anybody to be upset with, it’s Dick.
Replace should with could. As a parent I have a responsibility to raise my children to adulthood and hopefully they listen enough to get the tools to have a successful life. After that it’s up to them. Sure I’ll be there to help when I can but as adults they are lower down on the list when it comes to estate planning. Top priority is the person that vowed to grow old with me. That person will be in the fixed income category soon if not already. The retirement and estate planning is to take care of the spouse. Just bad luck that the marriage ended with the death so soon.
