Deepwater, NJ Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

If the house was left to you ion the will, then you are entitled to the house.  However, you cannot disinherit your spouse.  A married person is entitled to claim an elective, or statutory, share of an estate. The share the surviving spouse can claim is about 1/3.  So, if your mother died leaving you the house, but nothing to her spouse, then her spouse can claim a portion of the estate but not the whole house.  The elective share is something that has to be affirmatively asserted in court, it is not automatic, and if the surviving spouse does not claim it, it is waived. 

you will not loose it to inheritance tax !  There is no inheritance between a parent to a child.  You may have to pay estate tax if the total amount of your parents estate is over $675,000.  there is a very easy way to double that, to protect $1,350,000.  You should explore various options, a trust for the house, taking advantage of all tax credits, and possibly gifting.  You can call my office for a free consultation.

You can pass the title to your wife after you die if you both own the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship.  It abbreviated JTWROS.  If a husband and wife own the property as JTWROS its as if together they own 100% of the property and if one dies, the survivor still owns 100%.  The property passes regardless of what the will says, and passes without probate.