There's two ways to look at this. I've seen it from the other side. My mother didn't have a lot of money but she did own a house with my step-father. She died young and he remarried with his new wife basically wanting nothing to do with either myself, my sister or my step-sister. He then died and the property went to the new wife and her family. Let's be clear we didn't need anything anyway but I am pretty sure my mother would have hated the idea that her share of the estate went eventually not to her children, or even her husband's daughter, but a completely different family altogether!

Had it not been brick and mortar but moveable property then me, my sister and stepsister would have been guaranteed a third between us. In fact we were legally due a sixth each of what moveable property there was but as I imagine is so in the vast bulk of cases where there is a surviving spouse we didn't claim that right. Just showing though that there is two ways to look at everything,