How much of the property is entitled to me now that my husband is dead?

Question

My husband and I bought a small property together a few years before his death. He left no will. The home deed is in mine and my husbands names. He has 3 grown children from previous relationships. If the property is both are names, how much of the property would I receive, since half  is already mine, how is his half divided?

Christine James · Answer

It depends upon the term of the marriage and the equity in the property.  See an attorney.

Edwin K. Niles · Answer

If it says ?as joint tenants?, it?s yours, subject to recording an affidavit.

James Frederick · Answer

It depends on how title is held. If it is held in your names as husband and wife, then you would own 100%. If it is titled in your names as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, then the same answer. If it is in your names as tenants in common, then the answer is more complicated, as probate would be required. You might still be entitled to all or most of the property even in that case, but more information would be needed. The best thing you can do is have your deed reviewed by an attorney to determine where you stand.

Norman Green · Answer

How was title held?  Community property?  Joint tenants?  Either of those and it goes to you.  Tenants in common?  Probably his half is separate property, in which case it would go one-third to you and 2 thirds equally to his children.

James Weiner · Answer

Generally in Michigan if the title is in His and your name and you were husband and wife at the time it was acquired and it says nothing else.. you hold it in the entireties.. that means you take 100% of oft he property and his children get nothing.   You do not even have to go through probate since all you need is to quit claim it to yourself and attach a copy of his death certificate.

Dara J. Goldsmith · Answer

No one can tell you definitively unless you advise how the deed is titled.  Is it joint tenants, tenants in common, tenancy by the entirety, etc.  Best of luck to you.

Mark T. Peters · Answer

It depends.  Was the deed to you and your husband as joint tenants?  Then the entire property is yours.  Was it as tenants in common?  Then you own one-half and may own the rest depending on the value of the estate and your state's laws about homestead.  I suggest you take the deed to a local attorney and he or she can take you through the various options.

Maura Curran · Answer

Florida intestacy laws would give the surviving spouse, without minor children, full property.  If there is a will, there are protections for spouses if a spouse is written out of a will.  If you both are named on property, as long as it is not tenants in common, then you are the full owner of that property.  There are further Florida specific constitutional rights for homestead property.  You should employ an attorney to make sure all your rights are protected.

James Malinowski · Answer

If you owned the property as husband and wife, after your husband's death, you are the sole owner of the property. His children have no right or interest in the property.

Thomas Edward Gates · Answer

It will depend upon which state you live in.  In Washington, dying without, intestate, the estate of the husband would go to the surviving spouse.

James E. Reed · Answer

If the property was titled in your name and your husband's name, absent something unusual, you now own the entire property.  In Michigan, property conveyed to a husband and wife is presumed to create a tenancy by the entirety.  In a tenancy by the entirety, the surviving spouse owns the entire property.

Brian Haggerty · Answer

If you bought as husband and wife, then the deed is probably to the two of you "as tenants by the entirety." This is a survivorship estate, so you inherit his portion by operation of law. Just record his death certificate in the county records. You would have had to take special care to take the property as tenants in common.

James Oberholtzer · Answer

You get 100%.

Victor Waid · Answer

Depends upon how title was taken. Joint tenancy? Community property? Tenants in Common? Both of the first two forms of title have the element of the right of survivorship, you would succeed to your husband's half. As to the other form of title, his one half would go to his heirs, the heirs could allow you to buy them out or compel a sale and divide the proceeds.

Jayne Sebby · Answer

If you own the property as joint tenants, by law you will receive his entire share of the property.  If you own as tenants in common, his share of the property will be distributed according to your state's intestacy laws.

Randall Romei · Answer

If there is no will then the statute on descent and distribution controls how the assets of the deceased are distributed.  Assets held in joint tenancy by you and your husband would pass directly to you as the surviving joint tenant.  Assets held as tenants in common by you and your husband would be owned 50% by you and 50% by your husband's estate.  Since you husband had a wife and children, his estate would be divided 50% to you as his wife and 50% divided equally among his children, with the descendants of any deceased child dividing the deceased child's share.  You may also be entitled to a spousal award.  The distribution of the house will depend on whether title was held by you and your husband as joint tenants or as tenants in common.  You must look to the deed for that determination.

Ben Liu · Answer

If the property is entireties or joint property with survivorship rights, all of the property now belongs to you.  Otherwise his half will go into the estate and you will get your share as his wife - maybe all depending on the size of the estate.

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How much of the property is entitled to me now that my husband is dead?

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