Daughter-In-Law

[25Irene25]

If a son dies what is the status of a daughter-in-law

[calmck]

How do you mean "what is the status"

[ToraToraTora]

she is still a DIL!

[Buenchico]

As TTT says, a daughter-in-law remains exactly that even after the death of her husband. If she gets married again, you can still say "I went to my daughter-in-law's wedding", even though she'll also be someone else's daughter-in-law as well by then.

(If your question isn't just about a 'title' but about something like inheritance rights, we'll need more information about what it is you need to know in order to be able to answer).

[Peter Pedant]

widow

[DTCwordfan]

what a question - sounds lie there's to be some inheritance screwing coming? I hope not.

[jourdain2]

I am also unsure of what you mean. If it is a question of inheritance - well, legal beagles will help. So far as I am aware, unless a Will specifies otherwise, the D-i-L as a legal spouse would inherit all property from her husband.

[25Irene25]

Thanks everyone for your input.what I wondered was would she automatically inherit from her in-laws .By the way this is quite an amicable enquiry just wondered how the law is regarding this.
Many thanks

[DTCwordfan]

As has been said, it depends on his will.

[Peter Pedant]

the answer is... everyone should make wills.

The question, and I admit I should not guess....
is son is dead
easy then without a will the widow inherits just about everything

But - - suppose post mortem the son is mentioned in a will, say £10k, what happens to the 10k from gt uncle tom who has died later ?

the dead son's children would inherit - but does the daughter in law ever get the moolah?

the answer is no innit?

[New Judge]

//..what I wondered was would she automatically inherit from her in-laws .//

Being you and your spouse.

The the second of you dies (or if you both died together) and left no will, the rules of intestacy would kick in. This determines that your surviving children (or their children if they have died) would inherit. Your D-I-L would not figure in this. If you have no surviving children or grandchildren there is a defined "pecking order" which you can discover by using this tool:

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

[TheWinner]

25irene25, we don't know what your specifics are, perhaps google bloodline wills.

[25Irene25]

Sorry I’m rubbish at explaining.The son dies before his parents then they die a couple of years later and the son would have inherited had he still been alive does the daughter-in-law then inherit his share if the parents hadn’t changed their will.

[bednobs]

did njs answer not help?

[Peter Pedant]

I am a telepath and mind reader
ay thenk yew

also putting on my mystic meg hat and heavy eye make up - - I see thro the mists of Venus - this marriage is withooooooooout children....

[bhg481]

No, but if they had any children they would inherit the son's share. The DIL is not a blood relative, so is not in the line for inheritance.

[25Irene25]

Thank you.

[Buenchico]

A well-drafted will should specifically state what should happen if a beneficiary dies before the testator does. So, for example, the will of a parent (in a situation like the one you've described to us) should includes something along the lines of this:
"I give one half on my estate to my son, Arthur James Peartree. Should the said Arthur James Peartee pre-decease me, I instead give one half of my estate to my daughter-in-law Mary Helen Peartree".

Where such a term is present in a will, then it will apply if the son dies before the testator. However if whoever drafted the will failed to include such a provision, the gift that was intended for the deceased son will be shared equally between his children, if any.

If he did not have any children, and the will was drafted in such a way that there's a 'residuary beneficiary' (i.e. someone who receives whatever's left over after all the main provisions of the will have been carried out), the residuary beneficiary will receive the gift instead.

If there's no residuary beneficiary, then a 'partial intestacy' is created, with the relevant part of the estate being dealt with as if the testator had never written a will at all (following the rules from New Judge's link above).