Some Tips On Estate Planning For A Mixed Family

Mixed families, those that have children from more than the current marriage, have become common place these days. While the circumstances that lead to a mixed family may differ, here are a few tips that can be followed in most all situations and greatly assist in fortifying the estates of the new spouses:

• Prenuptial agreements are an absolute must. These agreements can protect children from a previous relationship and allow everyone to be on the same page when it comes to property rights and inheritance.
• Make sure that the any beneficiary designations on assets such as insurance plans and retirement account are updated. If the form is not updated, it will be very difficult to undue after a triggering event so it is imperative that all beneficiaries are properly named.
• Directives that dictate decision making for health and financial matters should be created in a mixed family situation. Be it removing an old spouse or restricting decision making authority for the new one, they are simple to create and incredibly important and useful when when the time comes.
• Last, but not least, wills and trust need to be updated to reflect the new family situation. A will should be easy to adjust but a trust may be problematic depending on if it is revocable or nonrevocable, who the trustee and beneficiaries might be, etc. When faced with a tricky trust make sure to consult with an attorney to evaluate the legal ramifications of a change if one is even possible.

See Carole M. Bass & Lori Douglass, Keeping it “Brady”, Wealth Management, December 14, 2015.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.