who inherits?

[mrspask]

A woman remarries after the death of her husband.She inherits property from his will.She ''wills'' the property to her children and then remarries.Do the children inherit or does the 2nd husband have a claim.
If he doesn't have a claim,can the children make him leave the property?

[dzug]

If she makes a will and subsequently marries, the will becomes invalid. Under the rules of intestacy, her new husband is then the major beneficiary, the children only getting a partial look-in after the first �125,000 of assets.

She needs to make a new will to make her wishes clear, whether the new marriage has changed them or not.

[mrspask]

hi dzug,

this seems so unfair.She may as well not made a will at all! Does this mean that if she makes another will after her re-marriage, in favour of her children,then they will inherit?

[dzug]

Yes. She needs to make a new will to confirm her wishes.

The law works on the basis that the new family has replaced the old unless a positive wish is expressed to the contrary. How is that unfair?

Her new husband may have some claim if he is financially dependent on her but not otherwise.

[mrspask]

thanks for your answer.I thought the unfairness.would be the disinheriting of the children maybe in favour of the husbands family!!if this might be the case and it could be a surprise added to the demise of the mother!