What is a wife entitled from her husband's estate where the husband has a child from a prior relationship and the husband and child's mother were not married?

Answer 1

If there is no will, the probate code of your state will determine the "order of heirship" and the fact that the father may not have been married to the child's mother may be irrelevant. In Illinois, as an example, if there is a spouse and a "descendent" (doesn't say child -- could be grandchild...but must be related by blood or adoption by the decedent) but no will, the spouse gets half and the child gets half.

If there is a will, then the will normally determines what the wife gets regardless of children. However if the wife is "cut out" or is given less in the will than she would get if there was no will, most states allow a wife to "renounce" a will but then she gets what she would get if there was no will. If there was no child as in this instance, she might then get everything. But again you must check the laws of your state to determine what a spouse is entitled to receive in case of the renouncement of a will. If there is a child, it maybe again like Illinois 50/50.