If the home is in your name only, what happens to your home after you die?

Peggy: I was calling about my sister, she bought a home on Merritt Island before her second marriage, her husband is not on the mortgage, and she does not have a will. My question is, would the home pass to her second husband, or would her two grown children have the rights to that home when she passes?

Tom Olsen: It's going to be both. If she passes away without a will, Florida Statutes is going to write a will for her. As to the home that she lives in, her surviving husband will have a choice, and his choices are he can take a 50% ownership interest and the other 50% would go to her two kids, or he can claim a life estate, meaning that he gets to live in the home for the rest of his life, he's obligated to pay taxes and maintenance insurance, and only upon his death would it go to her two kids. Both her surviving husband and her kids are going to end up with an interest in this property, and what that interest is, it's going to be up to the husband to decide which way he wants to go.

Peggy: Okay. If she were to create a will leaving the house to him, is it then he's free and clear?

Tom: Yes. By the way, Peggy, I'm assuming that they don't have a prenuptial agreement, but Peggy, if she wants to leave the entire home to her husband, she certainly can do so and she could accomplish that through a will.