Informative Masterclass
How to Protect your Family’s Assets and Leave a Lasting Legacy
Save Your Spot Now!

White Plains & New City, New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm

Estate Planning for a Blended Family

March 18, 2021
David Parker, Esq.
5 biggest mistakes for beneficiaries
David Parker, White Plains and New City NY Estate Planning Attorney
David Parker, Esq.
David Parker is an attorney who specializes in Estate Planning and Elder Law and has been practicing law for 30 years. Be it Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, or Medicaid Planning, David provides comprehensive and caring counsel for seniors and their families. A large portion of David’s practice is asset protection strategies so that families do not lose their hard earned savings to nursing home care costs. He also handles probate administration for the settlement of estates.
If you’re in a blended family, you’re already aware of the emotional and financial issues involved in your daily life. However, what about the future?

When you do your estate planning, you should understand some of the issues that can arise for a blended family . The Williamson Herald  in Franklin, TN recently published an article entitled “Blended families can avoid estate planning challenges.” According to the article, you can rest easy knowing that you’re not alone. Over 50% of married or cohabiting couples with at least one living parent, or parent-in-law, and at least one adult child, have a “step-kin” relationship. That makes for a lot of estate-planning issues. However, this doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Let’s look at some ideas that may help:

Try to be fair but be flexible. It is not always easy to be as equitable as you would like in your estate plans, and often a person can feel they have been treated unfairly. In a blended family, these problems can be even worse. Remember that fair isn’t always equal, and equal is not always fair. When dividing your assets, you will need to make some decisions after carefully evaluating the needs of all your family members. There’s no guarantee that all of your family will be satisfied with your determinations, but you’ll have done your best.

Be clear in your communications. It’s best to have no surprises in estate planning, and that’s especially true in a blended family. Take the time to involve other family members and make your wishes and goals known. Just give them an overall outline.

Ask an experienced estate planning attorney about a revocable living trust. Everyone’s circumstances are unique, but many blended families discover that a simple will isn’t enough estate planning. Therefore, you may want to create a revocable living trust. This can provide you with more control than a will, when it comes to carrying out your wishes. Moreover, because you’ve transferred your assets to the trust, you’re no longer technically the owner of these assets. As such, the probate court isn’t involved, and your estate can likely avoid the time-consuming, expensive, and public process of probate.

Find the right trustee. If you do create up a living trust, you also must designate a trustee. That’s a person who will manages the trust assets. Married couples frequently serve as co-trustees, but this can cause tensions and disagreements. As another option, you can hire a professional trustee. This may be a person or an entity with the time, experience, and neutrality to make appropriate decisions and who can bring new ideas to the process.

Estate planning can be complex with a blended family, so read up on these issues and speak to an experienced estate planning attorney.

Reference: Williamson Herald (Franklin, TN) (Feb. 18, 2021) “Blended families can avoid estate planning challenges”

 

Share This Post
Stay Informed
Subscribe To Our FREE Estate Planning, Probate and Elder Law Newsletter

Book Your Free Initial Consultation With Parker Law Firm Today
Get Started Now

The 15 minute initial phone call is designed as a simple way for you to get to know us, and for our team to learn more about your unique estate planning needs.

Book an Initial Call
Book A Call With Parker Law Firm
Parker Law Firm
White Plains Location

222 Bloomingdale Rd #301,
White Plains, NY 10605

New City Location

120 North Main Street, Suite 203,
New City, NY 10956

IMS - Estate Planning and Elder Law Practice Growth Advisors
Powered by
crosscross-circle