Yours, mine, and ours, in today’s modern family, it’s oh so familiar. The blended family is the product of 2nd or more marriages, in which one or more of the parties comes with children from a prior marriage. And then, they may even go on to have children together.
Suppose you have or are part of a blended family. In that case, it’s essential to understand how estate planning could be precisely what you need to keep your family out of conflict and in love, both during life, in the event of incapacity, and when one or more of the senior generation or parents dies.
Let’s begin with understanding where potential conflicts could arise when you have a blended family.
Consider the ones you love
Suppose you have children from a prior marriage, and you become incapacitated or die, leaving everything to your new spouse or partner. In that case, there’s is almost sure to be some conflict (whether spoken or not) between your children and your new spouse. Your children may feel unloved, forgotten, or resentful.
You may think that you can avoid it by leaving everything to your new spouse or partner, and then on their death, to your children. But this could set up a scenario where your children feel the need to monitor your spouse/partner’s use of your assets during their life. And that may not be what you want.
Conversely, you may have a partner or spouse you have not legally planned for with whom you would want to inherit some or all of your assets. But, as things stand right now, your entire estate may go to your children from a prior marriage. It could create a reality where your current partner gets kicked out of the house you share if something happens to you before your plan is updated.
You can avoid all of this (and even use the estate planning process to build stronger bonds with those you love) by having precise planning in place that discusses with your children and your new spouse or partner. We facilitate this as part of the planning process for all blended families.
If you are the child of a parent who has remarried or re-partnered, after a divorce or death, of your other parent, you may want to bring these issues to your parent’s attention.
If you are ready to create a well-thought-out estate plan for your blended family, start by sitting down with us, your Family Lawyer. During your Family Wealth Planning Session, we can help you plan for the needs of your unique family and ensure everything and everyone you love is protected and provided for as you wish – including you. Our estate planning process guides you to protect and preserve what matters most. Before the session, we’ll send you a Family Wealth Inventory and Assessment to complete that will support your thinking on what you own, what’s most important to you, and what you can do to ensure your family is taken care of. You can schedule your Family Wealth Planning Session online with us or give us a call if you have any questions. We’re happy to help!
At Cheever Law, APC, we don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death for yourself and the people you love, which all begin at a valuable and educational Life & Legacy Planning Session. The Life & Legacy Planning Session will allow you to get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. Suppose you have already completed your estate plan. In that case, we will review that plan at your Life & Legacy Planning Session to ensure that it will work the way you intend and address any holes or gaps that may be present if circumstances have changed since you executed the plan.
To learn more about our one-of-a-kind systems and services, contact us or schedule a 15-minute introductory call today.
To learn what you need to keep your family out of court and out of conflict when something happens to you, please register for our FREE educational Life & Legacy Planning Webinar. We look forward to serving you!