Estate Planning Tips for Blended Families

How Should You Plan Your Estate if Your Family is Blended?

Good estate planning protects your assets and properties and provides your family with financial security after you pass away. In Central Virginia, to plan your estate effectively, you should have the advice, insights, and legal services of an experienced Richmond estate planning attorney.

For blended families in Virginia, estate planning entails some unique challenges and considerations. If you marry a second time and have children from your first marriage, you must balance your children’s best interests with your new spouse’s best interests. If there are minor children, planning for their custody (if the worst should happen) adds additional complexity.

In a blended family, at least one child is not related biologically to one of the spouses. Blended families are like other families, but after the biological parent passes away, if there is no estate plan, legal complications – and legal disputes – may arise.

When Should You Plan Your Estate?

Many people have a will or estate plan from a previous marriage, but they fail to update it. Others assume the surviving spouse will automatically honor their wishes regarding their children’s inheritance. And other people never prepare an estate plan or leave behind a will.

Effective estate planning is essential for Virginia families and for anyone who owns significant properties or assets. If you are 18 or older, you should start the estate planning process now with the assistance of a Richmond estate planning lawyer.

We can’t predict the future. However, with good estate planning, your family will be prepared for whatever the future holds. There is no one-size-fits-all estate plan. Your plan will be unique. The details of your estate plan will depend on your family and your financial situation.

Good estate plans are imperative for blended families. Blended families, in particular, are vulnerable to probate and estate challenges. A surviving spouse, intentionally or unintentionally, could disinherit your stepchildren if your estate plan does not specifically protect their assets.

Should You Prepare a Revocable Living Trust?

Can you prevent a conflict between your plan for your children and your spouse’s actions when that time comes? A will, by itself, probably cannot prevent a legal conflict. However, a revocable living trust can, and it can help you provide for your spouse as well as your children.

A revocable living trust is a written legal document that determines how your assets are handled after you pass away. It is revocable, so you may revise or cancel it at any time.

What Assets and Properties Can Revocable Living Trusts Protect?

A revocable living trust allows you to leave particular assets to your spouse and ensures that your children inherit what remains upon your spouse’s death. In Virginia, the assets and properties you may transfer into your revocable living trust include but are not limited to your:

1. home and other real estate holdings
2. bonds, bank accounts, certificates of deposit, and promissory notes
3. business interests
4. investment and brokerage accounts, and
5. vehicles

Revocable living trusts provide blended families with additional financial security. In Virginia, a revocable living trust is not usually subject to probate, so it allows you to make informed, specific choices about the transfer of your assets to your children and spouse.

What Should Be Your Other Estate Planning Considerations?

If your family is blended, along with preparing a revocable living trust, consider these additional suggestions for planning your estate:

1. Select a trustworthy and level-headed trustee for your revocable living trust. Your trustee should be a person who can act as an intermediary between your spouse and children and make appropriate financial decisions when that time comes.
2. Consider giving your assets directly to your children before you pass away. When you do this, your children already have their inheritance, and upon your death, nothing will be left to dispute.
3. Beneficiary designations can transfer assets directly to your children. Beneficiaries may be designated on life insurance policies, bank accounts, and retirement savings accounts. These assets transfer directly to the beneficiary upon your death and without probate.
4. When you designate someone to make your healthcare decisions when you cannot make them, consider your spouse and children carefully. Choose someone who will not prevent other family members from having information and access if you become incapacitated.
5. At least every three years, review your estate plan, and modify it as needed after any substantial change in your family situation or financial circumstances. Changes in the law may also require a modification of your estate plan.

What Else Should You Know?

When planning an estate for your blended family, preventing conflict means you must communicate clearly and identify solutions that will prevent or resolve disputes. Expressing your preferences clearly and in writing can also help your family members avoid conflict.

When you plan your estate, your choices are yours alone, but if you have a blended family in Central Virginia, you’ll find that the services and advice of a skilled Richmond estate planning attorney are invaluable.

Your attorney will clearly explain your options throughout the estate planning process and will ensure that your plan effectively satisfies your wishes and needs. But with so many attorneys in Central Virginia, how can you locate the lawyer who will make your family’s needs a priority?

For the Estate Planning Assistance You Need

There is no need to search extensively for an experienced Richmond estate planning lawyer. Jurach, Tacey & Quitiquit will help you establish – or help you modify – an estate plan that protects every member of your blended family and clearly articulates your wishes.

Jurach, Tacey & Quitiquit will help your family prepare for the future. We are estate planning professionals committed to helping families in the Richmond area protect their estates and prepare for unforeseen events and circumstances.

Let us help you ensure that your loved ones will be financially secure after you pass away, and learn more about setting up an estate plan for your blended or non-blended family. Call the Richmond offices of Jurach, Tacey & Quitiquit at 804-531-5524 to schedule a free consultation.