My husband and I have children from previous marriages, but no children together. His children have very little to do with him and he does not wish to leave them anything when he dies, other than a video explaining why he left them out. He has given them thousands of dollars over the years, and they are nothing but ungrateful. Can he do a simple will leaving everything to me and then to my children (which are his wishes), explaining that he is mindfully leaving his children nothing? I understand that children normally get 1/2 of the estate but he doesn't want that to happen. We own two homes (one was his father's house who passed away a couple of years ago), multiple vehicles and the bank accounts. Their mother is very controlling we don't want her to talk his children into taking me to court over this in the event of his death. All any of them care about is money They are both in their twenties. In the even that we both die, he wants to split the estate between my three children.
Your husband can give his estate to whoever he wants to. He should see an attorney who does estate planning and have the documents drafted properly as there is a good possibility the children will be hoping to find a flaw in the will so they can inherit through the Texas laws of Descent and Distribution.
A funded revocable trust for your husband would be a much better estate planning tool because it is harder to challenge if created a number of years before his death and he has operated under it. In any event, see an experienced estate planning attorney. Be careful--videos can backfire. Please note that disinheriting them completely gives them an incentive to fight the plan. A better approach may be "baiting the trap."
He should talk to an estate planning attorney to set up the plan and also talk to that lawyer about a video. I think most estate planners would agree that it is not a good idea. Setting up a revocable living trust may be a good option to discuss.
As stated, he can leave his estate to anyone he so chooses. If he does not want to leave his own children anything, he can disinherit them in the Will.
Your husband can leave his belongings to anyone he wants to through a valid Texas Will. An invalid Will would open the door for his biological children to inherit through the Texas Descent and Distribution laws.
