3 Crucial Estate Planning Tips For Blended Families

Family life is constantly changing, and according to Pew Research Center, blended families are more common in the United States. Blended families are generally more common in the United States because of divorce and remarriage. Approximately one out of six children in America lives in a blended family. This is a family where a parent has a child or children that are not adoptive or biologically related to the other parent. In some blended families, both parents have children that are not adoptive or biologically related to the other parent.

A blended family can bring tremendous joy into the lives of each member of the family. But, blending two families also comes with its fair share of challenges. For example, when it comes to estate planning, blended families face extra challenges. Often, estate planning for blended families is complicated. Estate planning usually presents emotional issues around some major decisions that blended families need to make. However, as much as it might be hard to navigate complicated relationships and multiple family members, careful and proper estate planning can help blended families avoid financial and legal issues in the future. The Probate Guy has some tips for those people in blended families considering estate planning.

Consider Creating a Trust

If you want to provide for every member of your blended family, you may want to consider creating a trust. Generally, trusts are a good idea when you want to ensure that each spouse’s children are eventually treated fairly. For example, you can decide to leave all or part of your assets in a trust that can support your spouse during their life. After your spouse dies, the trust will control who receives whatever will be remaining. Basically, if you have children, you can ensure they benefit after your spouse dies. Also, such a strategy can help prevent assets from passing to a new spouse and their children in the case of remarriage.

A Simple “I Love You Will” May Not Cut It

An “I love you Will” is one whereby a spouse chooses to leave everything to the surviving spouse. As much as such a Will can be effective, more often than not, such simple Wills prove ineffective. Suppose you decide to create such a Will only for your surviving spouse to lose touch with your child or children over the years. In such a case, your child or children might be disinherited. Such cases are not uncommon. It is a good idea that if you want to leave assets to your loved ones, you make specific provisions for each one of them in your Will.

Speak to Professionals

This may seem like an obvious tip, but, sometimes, people take the importance of consulting professionals lightly. An experienced estate planning attorney understands the unique challenges that blended families face. A skilled estate planning attorney can help you and your family choose an estate planning tool that suits your situation. Therefore, if yours is a blended family and you are considering estate planning, reach out to an experienced attorney.

Contact the Probate Guy To Get Your Estate Plan Started Today

Regardless of your type of family, contact experienced California estate planning attorney Robert L. Cohen of The Probate Guy, for help with estate planning.

Resource:

pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/