Estate Planning for Second Marriages

Richard E. Barnes (member, Elliott, Blackburn, Barnes & Gooding, P.C., Valdosta, Georgia) has recently published his article entitled Till Death Do Us Part (Again): Estate Planning for Second Marriages, Prob. & Prop., March/April 2007, at 34.

Richard explains that “[multiple-marriage families present special challenges for estate planners and frequently require heightened counseling, increased sensitivity, and vast stores of patience while testing the depth and variety of the estate planner’s bag of tricks.”

The article discusses how the lawyer should deal with issues such as:

• unresolved emotional issues
• multiple sets of children
• support obligations to a previous souse or children and antenuptial agreements
• substantial age differences in spouses
• wealth disparities in spouses
• estate tax apportionment