I moved into my future husband’s home seven years ago. We were married two years later, but I never asked to be added to the deed to the house. Last month, my husband died. His two sons live out of state. They never came to Arizona to see their father in the past seven years, so I have never met them. The two sons recently emailed me that they want to sell the home. They will let me live in the house until the sale closes. Because I was never on the deed and there is no will, however, they say that I have no interest in the home. Are they correct?
Probably not. If your husband had no will, and there is no deed of the home to you, the law of intestate (“no will”) succession should apply. Therefore, the sale proceeds from the house would be divided 50% to you as the surviving spouse and 50% to your late husband’s two sons as children from a prior marriage. The relevant Arizona statute is A.R.S. § 14-2102.
