[legion]

Based on my reading, despite the confusing wording, I think Gogar and ossiblue have probably nailed it. Common law wife collected up all of the assets of the common law marriage, and willed them to her children only, leaving the common law husband and his daughter penniless.

I'm not that this is the case here, but if common law wife was sick and she apparently had five children of her own, one of her children may have been the one to get the will changed, either without the knowledge of the common law wife or deceived her into changing it.

Either way, this seems like exactly the kind of situation for a court to sort out.