No will, Children not adopted - CA

California

I married a woman who brought children into our marriage from a former husband. I have not adopted them. They still use their orignal last name.

My wife refuses to make a will.

Should she die, how will her estate be divided among me and her children and ex?

p.s. The children are now all adults.

Should she die, how will her estate be divided among me and her children and ex?

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Well, the easy part is her ex -- unless she co-owns assets with her ex, or she has a will that says otherwise, he won't get anything.

As for you:

For any assets that are community property, you get it all.

For any assets that are her seperate property, it will depend on how many kids she brought into the marriage. If it is just 1 kid, then you get 1/2 of the seperate property and the kid gets the other half.

If it is more than one kid, you get 1/3, and the kids (however many of them there are) split the other 2/3's.

Any kids YOU brought into the marriage get nothing.

It can actually get a bit more complicated if you two were married and lived outside of California before coming here, but above is the general rule. See California Probate Code Section 6400 - 6414 for anything you ever wanted to know about intestate succession in California.

Well, what can I say except, "Thanks, muchly, divgradcurl!"

I'm elated to find that there is someone here who is knowledgeble and nice enough to be willing to take the time to answer my questions.