How Can Blended Families Manage Their Estate?

In the United States, when speaking about a family unit, that typically means a home with 3.15 people. According to the United States Census Bureau when there are at least two people living in a home that are related by marriage, adoption, or birth, this is a living situation that is considered a family.

Across the country, there are over 83 million families. Families, though, can take on many shapes and sizes. For example, you may have married your high school sweetheart and had a couple of children but then divorced. Later in life you remarried and did not have children with your second spouse but both you and your spouse brought children from a previous relationship into the new one. Your new living arrangement makes you part of a blended family. For estate planning purposes, there are different considerations when it comes to how to manage assets with a blended family.

For more information regarding how to properly plan for wealth distribution upon death in Florida, The Villages estate planning attorneys at Millhorn Elder Law Planning Group can help.

How to Estate Plan for New Marriages in Blended Families

If you already have an estate plan in place and you have a new family situation, you can go back over your documents and adjust them for your new circumstances. In addition, there are other types of contracts or agreements that may apply to your situation. Some of these that may work for you can include:

Premarital Agreement

This agreement takes place before marriage and sets the terms for how property will be distributed upon death. It is very helpful for couples that have children from previous marriages.

Post-Marital Agreements

If a couple decides that they do not want to enter into a premarital agreement but then after being married for some time, they decide that an agreement could be helpful, a post-marital agreement can be effective.

It is important to know that you have options when you are determining how to divide your wealth before and after entering into a new marriage. Also, in situations where you are simply living with your significant other but not married or planning on getting hitched, even here you can put together an agreement regarding your things. Shared property agreements can lay the conditions for how properties bought together will be divided should the relationship not last.

It is imperative that your wishes are respected and that those you love are not deprived of what they are entitled to and what you want them to have simply because of a change of life circumstances. At Millhorn Elder Law Planning Group our seasoned legal team can help you with every aspect of estate planning, including the unique needs of those families that are blended.

Speak to The Villages Estate Planning Attorneys at Millhorn Elder Law Planning Group Today

To schedule a free consultation with one of the effective and strategic Florida estate planning attorneys at Millhorn Elder Law Planning Group, please call 800-743-9732.

Source:

census.gov/topics/families/marriage-and-divorce/data/tables.2021.List_1621025217.html