Ask a solicitor: What happens when your spouse leaves you out of the will?

When one spouse dies leaving a will, and the surviving spouse has not renounced his/her rights, then that surviving spouse has a right known as a 'Legal Right Share' to a share of a portion of deceased spouse’s estate, writes solicitor Karen Walsh

Even though we did not have the best relationship in the world, I am shocked my husband only left me €1,000.

Dear Karen,

My husband died recently and made a will shortly before he died, and he left me €1,000. We were still married and lived together in the same house, but we lived very separate lives. All the assets were in his name, including the farmland and the family home.  He farmed, and I looked after the children and home.