DH left me NOTHING in his will – devastated and fuming

Well hang on… he’s already paid to bring them up? I mean that is what a father does right? In an ideal world. Why should they not inherit anything simply because he died with younger kids? They’re all his kids equally. What would he have wanted had he updated his will? I assume enough to look after the young kids, make sure his wife is ok and then everything else split or something along those lines. Why the op is getting greedy now is beyond me - earlier she thought she was getting nothing, before that she’d assumed he’d have written a will where they were ALL covered, now suddenly she’s like I need to protect myself and my kid as if these two adult kids are evil vultures for wanting some of their father’s inheritance (not that they’ve even asked mentioned it). She’s imagining that they’re all sneaky and kept quiet because they secretly knew it was all going to them. And despite clearly now that he’s died showing that she has no loyalty to them and doesn’t see them as anything other than adults who have no business around her and their own dad, she is saying they never saw her as part of the family?! Well I can see why!

I would only ever buy a house with someone as tenants in common again. I have my will drawn up and would draw it up again if I trusted anyone enough to remarry.

I can only speak for myself, but I was poleaxed when my husband died. If it was unexpected in the case of the OP's husband, I can quite understand the inaction.

Until you inform the bank of the death, the account will stay open and utilities will be paid automatically.

I did set the ball rolling as soon as I had the death certificate, but there was a will and I was executor, so I felt obligated to get everything done. Most of that time is a blur, but I have flashes of memory - sitting in the solicitor's office trying to deal with everything and crying at the same time.

Thankfully, the solicitor was very good.

Joint savings and joint bank accounts are normally automatically be transferred to the other account holder. If this is you and the account is set up like that the they don’t get included in the estate so are not subject to intestacy laws, they belong to the joint account holder.

If you have a joint bank account for bills etc this might get frozen so make sure you have enough money to pay for the day to day. This usually happens if one person opened the account and the other was added as a signatory - if it was opened as a joint account then should be fine.

You do need to see a solicitor asap to apply for letters of administration before someone else applies for probate based on the invalid will.

I believe the OP can also make a claim on behalf of her children under 18yrs for child support from his estate. You can set up special life insurance policies for it to so hopefully he's done that.

Intestacy
If there are children
If the estate is valued at more than £322,000 , the inheritance is divided between the partner and the children. If the estate is £322,000 or less then the children don’t inherit. The partner inherits:

• all the personal property and belongings of the person who has died
• the first £322,000 of the estate
• half of the remaining estate

Let's say for argument's sake, he's left £500,000.
You get the first £322,000, leaving £178,000.
Half of that is £89,000 which you get, totalling £411,000.
The other £89,000 is divided between his children from his first marriage and your children.
Let's say there are two from each marriage, each child gets £22,250 each. If hirr children are under 18 you hold it in trust for them until thry are 18.

Do look up inheritance tax as well and the property may be yours to live in. Consult a lawyer. The estate is what is left over after funeral expenses and debts have been paid.

Assume the estate is worth £700k.

You get £322k plus half the balance of £378k, so your total share is £511k.

The other half share of £189k gets split between all the children which includes your minor children with your DH. Assuming your DH had 4 children they would each be entitled to £47,250. You children’s share will be held on trust until they are adults.

When I got married (Scotland) as soon as the bank manager heard that it was my DH's second marriage, she told me not to open a joint bank account and to sort out my will.

The bank account was excellent advice - I was the main breadwinner for most of our marriage and I would have lost a large chunk of my savings to DH's adult children, via the moveable estate rule here - one third goes to the children, no matter what is in the will. The children actually earn much more than we ever did, but one of them is constantly running out of money through bad financial choices.

All you need to do to make it fair is to write your will to leave an equal share of the house between all your late dh's children.

Seriously, don’t waste your time posting in here. The advice may be excellent but you need to see a solicitor yesterday. Put everything down and prioritise that right now above everything else!

It was probably more putting it off, forgetting about it than anything deliberate but very silly when he had other children to consider.
It’ll take some time to sort, his children can’t turf you out, sell the house etc… Speak to a solicitor, make sure you take your marriage certificate and a copy of his Will. As pp have said, marriage renders any Will null and void and you are his next of kin.

I’m sorry for your loss, all the sorting out afterwards is so stressful so you’re fighting on two front — grief and stress. Make sure you look after yourself. 💐

I think the position is likely to be as follows:

The estate is worth over £322,000
The estate will be divided between you and the children (including your own children).
You get:

• up to £322,000 in assets, and half of the rest of the estate
• all of the personal possessions of the deceased

The children are entitled to a share of the half of the estate above £322,000.

Hopefully that will mean you can keep the house, albeit possibly with a small mortgage. If it was me I would also ensure all children get some of the personal possessions to remember their dad by.

Definitely get legal advice. I hope it all works out for you and your children x

Your situation is therefore quite different to the OP's. She says in the OP and repeated in another post that the house was in her husband's sole name, so she doesn't inherit automatically. She also says that the house is worth more than £400k. Under the intestacy rules the first £322k goes to her absolutely but the balance of the estate is divided between her and the four children, two from her marriage and two from her husband's former marriage. I am not a lawyer, but this is what the basic position is on intestacy. https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

What's going on?

Same and it didn’t surprise me but now it’s back. Strange.

My solicitor told me when I brought my house with my ex and we were tenants in common in which I left my half to my children that I needed to remake my with after I married him or to revoke my will asap in the case we split up.
She also said that his adult children would have very little claim on the house but any children under 18 may do.

Yes as you married his previous will is invalid.
Ex Mil married after years together to ensure her affairs were in order after 2 previous marriages
I'm sorry for your loss

Speak to a solicitor asap, especially around making a claim under the Inheritance Provision for Family and dependants act, yes you will get something under intestacy but not everything.

I saw a deletion message too saying OP was a troll. Maybe a mistake?

Not accurate. There are innumerable links on this thread to reliable sources of information on intestacy in England, which is where the OP says she lives. The OP would be well advised to ignore most of what's been said on this thread except the advice to see a solicitor without delay.

Well, exactly. I asked over an hour ago how the OP had managed financially in these last months. She is living in a house that isn't in her name and it's odds on the utilities accounts aren't either. Joint or single bank accounts? Life assurance? Pensions? There is so much financial admin to sort out when someone dies. It's very hard when it's also a very difficult time emotionally, but just ignoring it is not normally going to work because the bills have to be paid. I do not understand how it can have taken this long for the OP to wonder what was happening about the will.

Why did this thread disappear with a deletion message but now it’s back?

It doesn't need to be in joint names for her to inherit as the law states his wife is his next of kin without a valid will which the last one was invalidated by marriage.