DH left me NOTHING in his will – devastated and fuming

You also need to think about your dh’s children. He would have wanted them to inherit something . Dont be that person who ‘forgets’ that your dh has other kids .

I’m really sorry for your loss. Assuming that you are in UK, this link might be of help to you.
www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

As others have said, if there was no mention of the children that you have together then it's old and didn't update it. So it wasn't to intentionally hurt or impact you. Just a very stupid mistake. I hope you can find a good solicitor. Sorry for your loss.

Given that most peoples’ estates consist solely of property plus maybe a pension and a bit of savings, handing his DC cash may not be an option.
Of course if the house is worth more than the spouse’s ‘share’ of the intestacy, it becomes a real problem - the DC may well turn nasty and want the house sold, in which case the only winners are the lawyers.

Citizens' Advice say:

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

But we still don't know if OP lives in England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or elsewhere in the world.

See a solicitor to get application for Letters of Administration under way a.s.a.p.

You need to see a solicitor who will advise. In England/Wales you are likely to end up with at least the house for your lifetime and the £322K. You may need to do an Inheritance (Provision for family and dependents) Act 1975 claim but that will be fairly routine for a solicitor in contentious probate. You need to do this within 6 months of probate so bear that time limit in mind. Good Luck and sorry for your loss.

Get a solicitor. It was similar with DH's kids. At first it was "We don't want anything! It's all for you!" (I'd warned them that there wouldn't be much. I was younger and the main breadwinner as well as being my husband's carer for many years.)

Then it was "You're family!"

I put my foot in it after interference from DH's adulterous first wife (currently with man number 4) and the kids went non-contact.

I sent off the cheques for the children plus an additional one for the grandchild. I also sent them the family medals and my MIL's jewellery. (GC wasn't in the will, but DH told me what they were to get.)

Cheques weren't cashed for over a month. I'm fairly certain that they were checking whether they were entitled to more. The bank phoned me to verify that I wasn't being scammed when the first cheque was cashed. The bank then actually declined two of the cheques because they couldn't reach me - I was in hospital.

Cue phone call to my solicitor to say that the cheques had bounced...I got it sorted out and I've had no word from them since.

I would still try and respect his DC’s in this and give them some of the money you inherit x

Exactly. Most people would know this I think.

Depends where you are if in UK. In Scotland a spouse has a legal right to I think 1/3 of estate even if a will leaves everything to someone else that cannot be overridden, your children would have similar rights.

It was described to me like that but having just googled it, it’s about adequate provision (which is slightly different to what I had said). As I said in my post, OP needs to take legal advice as contesting a will is complex.

“Can my husband leave me with nothing?”
Under the Inheritance Act a spouse who does not receive adequate financial provision under the will of their late husband or wife is entitle to make a claim. The Act gives the courts the power to rewrite the deceased’s will and award the surviving spouse money and assets that had been left to others.
The amount of financial provision varies from case to case and depends upon the individual circumstances. The court will take into consideration a range of factors including the size of the estate and the finances of the surviving spouse.

I think your marriage overrides his will.

Speak to a solicitor.

https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/media-centre/articles-may-aug-2018/how-does-marriage-affect-your-will/

That's so heartwarming what a good person your relative was

Deffo get some advice, invalid or not he’s not even split it between all his children just some of them so I’m sure that is worth something that you could say this will surely isn’t a true reflection

Assume nothing. You need legal advice and the will needs to be checked. As we know on MN a sniff of inheritance brings the worst out in some people. Dont negotiate or listen to offers/deals/threats. Its all about the will, its validity and terms. Who was the executor(s) originally listed?

What would your DH have wanted, do you think?

@jackmd5 just get in contact with a solicitor and make an appointment to iron this out and to put thus through probate. Get the solicitor to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.
So sorry for your loss 💐

I would strongly suggest considering what provision he would have offered them, family possessions etc should be passed on. Be generous. It pays dividends in the long run

This from @dumpydumpydumpdump is very good advice. Eg. if there is anything of their mother's that you're now inheriting, or if you have no kids you can make your will in their favour, or something like that.

A relative married a third time but to a woman with no kids - he died before making another will so she inherited quite a few things that she knew should really have gone down the bloodline eg. jewellery of his mother (that she had never met), a family holiday home where he had holidayed with his children when they were growing up, so she gave those things to his adult kids outright. She also made a new will, made her stepchildren her executors and left almost everything to them. They in turn let her use the holiday home as long as she was alive and took care of her when she was older and alone - not as much as if they were her own kids, but it definitely paid dividends to have acted as if their father had made a will before he died.

You need to say where you live before anyone can answer this question. If you're in the UK, which part?

That would be the case if their Dad had left them nothing but he effectively has no will so Intestacy applies

Depends on the value only the first 322k does in English law

I would think they would already know that your marriage invalidated the previous will.
They should be the ones who are angry with him for not providing something for them after he married you, if there was some expectation there.

Chat gpt says that he died intestate which means that his chattels (personal belongings) go to his spouse and his remaining estate is inherited by you and his remaining children - if the property was owned jointly then it all goes to you, otherwise you get £250k and anything left after that is split half way between you and his remaining children

you won’t necessarily get it all depending on the value of the estate although remember your joint children are beneficiaries as well