Q: My husband purchased our home 4 months before we married Do I inherit our home if he dies?
Or do we need to do legal paperwork? Can I simply be added to the deed?
A:
These situations can cause some unintended consequences in the event of an untimely death. I do not have enough facts to provide you specific advice, but I infer that your marriage may be later in life or even a second marriage. In those cases, if someone dies without a Will, the law in Alabama states that one-half of assets passes to the spouse and one-half passes to the children of any prior marriage. I am aware of several situations where a stepmother owned her home with her step-kids and it usually does not go well.
Proper planning is always the solution to these issues. There are options: (1) you could be add to the deed with a survivorship clause or (2) your husband could sign a Will that directs you receive the home.
Personally, I am remarried and my wife owned her home before we married. One of the first things my wife did after we married was to sign a Will to direct that I receive the home at her death.
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