Q: Will a will and trust ensure I'm entitled to the house if my husband passes?
I live on Staten Island, NY, and my husband purchased our house before we married. His father's name is also on the deed because he helped with the down payment. We plan to create a will and trust to leave the house to the surviving spouse or our son if we both pass. My name is not on the deed, and there are no existing agreements regarding property ownership. We haven’t discussed specific terms for the will and trust concerning his father's name on the deed. Will a will and trust be sufficient to ensure I am legally entitled to the house if my husband passes away first?
A:
Based on your description, a Will and a Trust are insufficient to ensure that the house goes to you (or your son) in the event that your husband dies.
Why? Because you described the house as being half owned by your Father in Law, and half owned by your husband. Your husband's will can only handle matters belonging to his estate. If the property is deeded as you described, then his Will (or any other document) can only handle his 50% ownership. Assuming this, you would then be half owner with your father in law.
After handling many of these, my advice is that you need more proper and thorough estate planning. At a minimum, it would require a review by an attorney to guide you and give you some peace of mind regarding this issue. This area of law can be tricky to navigate on your own.
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