05 May Who gets this house after spouse dies with no will?

Q. My spouse passed. I have step-children who want a percentage of the profits from selling our house. What are they legally entitled to with no will?
— Widow

A. We’re sorry to hear of your loss.

When a person dies without a will, the state laws of intestacy govern the distribution of the estate.

But the laws of intestacy do not control the distribution of assets that were jointly owned with a right of survivorship or that have a beneficiary designation, said Shirley Whitenack, an estate planning attorney with Schenck, Price, Smith & King in Florham Park.

“If the house was jointly owned as husband and wife with a right of survivorship, then the other spouse solely owns the entire house by operation of law upon the death of the first spouse and the stepchildren do not have any right to the proceeds of the sale of the house,” she said.

But if the deceased spouse owned the house in his or her own name or the house was titled by the spouses as “tenants in common,” then the laws of intestacy would apply, Whitenack said.

“Under New Jersey’s intestacy statute, when a deceased person is survived by a spouse and children who are not children of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse is entitled to the first 25% of the intestate estate, but not less than $50,000 nor more than $200,000, plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate,” she said.

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This story was originally published on May 5, 2021.

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