Q: If I’m married and my spouse dies and I don’t have a will or trust does all my property automatically go to our children
There is also 2 step children. They are from the deceased husbands first marriage. Are they entitled to anything? Could they take my children to court?
A:
If your spouse dies before you, you would then legally be considered single. To the extent your spouse does not have an estate plan, joint accounts, or beneficiary designations to the contrary, the lion's share of his or her property would go to you as the surviving spouse, with any remainder split among his or her living children. When you then die, your property (which would then include everything received from your predeceased spouse) would be divided among your living children (not your former step children).
If you do not like this result, then it's important to complete the estate planning process. Will it stop the two groups of children from fighting in the future? Maybe, maybe not. All you can do is commit your wishes to paper.
Kenneth V Zichi agrees with this answer
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