Tips for Estate Planning in Blended Families
There are many ways to be a family – especially in modern times. A family might be a “traditional” nuclear family, but very often a family will include second (or subsequent) marriages, step-children, half siblings, and more.
Ensuring that all of your loved ones are accounted for as you desire in your estate planning may take a little extra work – but it is nothing that you cannot handle without a little guidance from the esteemed will & probate attorneys at Suncoast Civil Law. Careful estate planning can ensure that probate and the administration of your estate go as smoothly as possible. Below are a few tips you can employ moving forward.
- Weigh Competing Interests
Parents in traditional, two-parent households, where any children are the direct issue of both parents, can rely on Florida’s intestate succession laws. These laws have developed to ensure that even if a last will and testament or other estate planning has not occurred, parents’ assets pass to their closest family members.
In a blended family, if there is no will/estate plan or a will is found invalid, it is more likely that someone will not receive the inheritance that was intended. Blended families battling in probate courts over competing interests in a limited estate inheritance can increase conflict and increase the price of taking the estate through the probate process. Many issues can arise, such as second spouses not having their step-children’s best interests at heart. Or perhaps older children are unwilling to see assets go to a new partner that their parent found in the last years of their life.
Careful estate planning can help to avoid unnecessary, high-conflict litigation after your death. It is especially important to lay out your intentions clearly in an estate plan if there is an individual that you want to take care of that a probate court may otherwise overlook – such as a friend, set siblings, etc.
- Make Sure Your Beneficiary Designations are Up to Date
Too often Florida residents make the mistake of not updating their estate plan after getting a divorce. Federal law mandates that an ERISA retirement account or insurance policy will be paid out to whatever person is named in a written beneficiary designation. This means that if your ex-spouse is the named beneficiary – they will be the one slated to benefit. This can lead to blended families going through costly litigation in efforts to reclaim those benefits.
Avoid this by ensuring that you file new beneficiary designations with your insurance companies, banks, financial managers, etc.
- Consider a Prenuptial Agreement
One of the strongest tools blended families have at their employ is the use of a solid prenuptial agreement. These agreements can set-apart what is meant to go to your children so that if you pass away there will be no confusion, or reason to take the probate estate through contentious litigation. Marital agreements change the rules the probate court will follow when assets are divided.
Contact Suncoast Civil Law
Estate planning in blended families requires attention to experience in understanding various competing interests. The Sarasota wills & probate attorneys at Suncoast Civil Law can help you work through even the most complicated family estate planning scenarios, and help your family avoid unnecessary probate litigation. Contact our office to begin speaking with our team.
Sources:
floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/estate-planning-issues-in-a-divorce-situation-ii-an-update-and-standing-orders/
hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/robbie-robertson-inheritance-family-battle-1235967262/