Q: What rights does a new spouse have to a house left to her in her husband's will if his ex-spouse name is still on deed
The ex-spouse has not paid anything on the house in over 11 years. The new wife has been paying the mortgage with husband now for past 2 years.
A: You should first check the divorce papers- if the two were divorced, it would be extremely odd if the property was not awarded to one of the two. They may have forgot or didn't know to change the deed, but hopefully the divorce awarded the property to your spouse, and that divorce decree can be recorded in the deeds office and doing so will operate like a deed to change ownership to your spouse.
A: If the Divorce Decree did not address property division, then the real property went from Tenancy By The Entirety over to Tenancy In Common of 1/2 Undivided Interests by operation of law, subject to the Deed of Trust. Then the 1/2 interest of the deceased husband goes through his Estate if the Will is Probated, or to you if no Will is Probated. There may be a Deed somewhere, so a Title Search is needed. You may need to Elect against the Will, so hire a competent attorney now.
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