my son and his wife own a home, both are on the deed. The wife has 2 children from a previous marriage. As she is very sick, she has a will ...

Question

my son and his wife own a home, both are on the deed. The wife has 2 children from a previous marriage. As she is very sick, she has a will and did not leave any property to the children. Do they have a compulsory right to any of the real estate property? And are there any ways to circumvent these rights? The property is in CT.

Answer

You don't have to leave anything to your children in a will. If you don't leave anything to your spouse, the spouse can opt to get a life use of 1/3 of your estate, but children don't have that option. Also, if the house is in both names, it is probably in what is called "survivorship", which means when one party dies, the house automatically goes to the other owner, without going through the deceased person's will.