Second marriages present estate planning difficulties—in which can be met with a mixture of effective communication and clever planning.
Second marriages can be fantastic things – fulfilling, adventurous, and rarely dull! Simultaneously, second marriages present special difficulties in estate planning. Both of you may have children from prior relationships, in addition to children together. Both of you might have property and other assets you have brought to the marriage. If you are like a lot of people, you are going to want to take care of your spouse’s needs, while guaranteeing that your property (or much of it) at the end of the day is going to go to your children.
Caring for everyone you love can become tricky. You are going to need an estate plan that suits you and your circumstances. Lacking one, there is no way of guaranteeing that what you want to happen is actually going to happen. Counting on your spouse and children to “work through it” is not a plan. The happy news is that you are not by yourself. Resources are available to assist you in getting the plan you wish for.
To begin a plan that’s tailored to your needs, take the below steps:
Take some time to figure out your most important estate planning objectives and what you are going to like to have occur with you and your assets (home, vehicle, paintings and other personal belonging, investments, insurance, and brokerage accounts) should you or your spouse pass away. Choose a time and retirement plans place devoid of distractions and be prepared to listen. You are going to probably want to take some time for reflecting prior to making important decisions concerning these issues.
Your wishes could change depending on who passes away first, so contemplate each sequence of events, distasteful as it might be.
Go over any beneficiary appointments you have made on insurance policies and/ or retirement accounts. A lot of people forget to modify their beneficiary appointments when they get a divorce or get remarried, so be sure your accounts, plans and insurance beneficiaries are current with your wishes. You might be surprised at what you discover!
When you know there are particular items you would like to leave to your children, start devising a list. Make a note to handle these in writing in your finalized plan. One of the biggest errors individuals in blended families make is that they’re not particular concerning leaving property to their children. This can produce tension and disappointment should the children not receive an item they’re sure their parent wanted them to have–even when it’s of little financial worth.
Discover tools and methods that can assist you in getting where you want to go. Leaving property with no strings attached to the living spouse might not be the best method, since it doesn’t guarantee that the children, at the end of the day, benefit. As a consequence, many individuals in blended families utilize trusts to provide for their spouse, at the same time making sure their children, at the end of the day, end up with their property. Other methods can achieve the same purpose or save on estate taxes, when that’s a concern.
In conclusion, locate an estate planning attorney in your state with knowledge in blended families to guide you all the way to a finished plan. Don’t forget, until you get your plan finished, there’s no way of verifying your wishes are going to be respected.
Source:
- Barnes, R. (2012, July 31). Estate planning and your blended family. www.nolo.com. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/estate-planning-blended-family-29665.html
