If a wife dies and her children begin a probate process with an attorney attempting to claim interest in the estate, does the husband have to respond?

It's all about the type of deed and the laws in your particular state. I believe (but I'm not an attorney) that "tenants in entirety" would convey the rights to the surviving "tenant" (owner). As for responding to probate letters, again I think that would fall under the laws within that particular state. I suspect a response is in order, especially if the letters were from the court, though I don't know if there's a remedy for a lack of one.

Actually, need, we must know a lot more here - are we talking about a second marriage and the children of the wife from her earlier marriage? In these situations, the kids may feel that money their dad earned should return to them after their mom's death and the second husband does not deserve it because he did not earn it. In other words, the money came from the first marriage and should stay there with the children of the first marriage, as in, "my dad worked to earn this money and he would have wished to have it go to his children after his widow died, not to some guy who did nothing to earn it."

I don't get it. Generally when one spouse dies the other spouse gets everything. Did the wife have a will expressly disinheriting the husband?