Will My Estate Be Affected by Community Property Laws

[slow chatter]

My question involves estate planning in the state of: New York.
All my children are married, and have been named as beneficiaries of my and my wife's estate. Can I legally exclude their spouses from receiving the proceeds of our estate?

[harrylime]

New York is not a community property state. (And, even in most community property states, assets acquired through inheritance are considered separate property and not community property as long as the inherited assets are kept separate.)

But, once any assets become the property of your children, you can't control what those children do with them. They could commingle them with marital assets. They could gift them. They could leave the assets to whoever they wish in their own estate plans....