Krugerville, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Generally the heirs don't decide if the house is sold unless somehow it is titled in all their names. If is a specific gift and the will requires it be transferred to all six, and one does not want to sell, that person can buy out the other 5. There of course is always a partition Acton. If the will does not specifically designate the house going to all six , the proper course of action is the personal representative of the estate has the property sold .

Whether or not you had children together is irrelevant.  Whether he had a child with someone else affects how his separate real property, if any, passes under the Texas laws of descent (real estate) and distribution (personal property). Pensions, 401(k)s and IRAs pass to the designated beneficiaries.  If you are named as the beneficiary, they pass to you.  If no beneficiary is named, pensions pass according to the rules of the pension plan, 401(k)s pass to the surviving spouse and IRAs pass to the estate.  Since IRAs are usually created with community assets, they are usually viewed as community property.  The surviving spouse retains her 50% community property interest.  The deceased spouse's community property interest passes according to his Will or, if there is none, according to the Texas laws of descent and distribution. In Texas, even if the home was separate property, purchased before the marriage and paid for with separate funds, the surviving spouse has a right to live in it for life. Please see a local probate attorney about probating (proving) your husband's estate.                

I am assuming there is no will. Without a will and with no surviving spouse, the estate is divided equally among the kids. However, if the house was deeded lawfully before death then it is NOT part of the estate since it was not in the name of the deceased at death. To challenge the transfer that was made before death you will have to prove fraud or breach of fiduciary duty (if the person was guardian or attorney in fact). It will be an expensive undertaking (I would be surprised if it was less than $20,000) so the value of the estate will have to be big enough to cover the costs or you won't have much luck getting an attorney. I always tell folks to wait until they are through their grief before they make a decision on something like this.