Blended Families and Estate Planning

Although no one in the Myrtle Beach area gets married expecting the marriage to end in divorce, a certain percentage of marriages do end in divorce. After a divorce many people choose to remarry and start their life again. With a blended family, estate planning becomes even more important.

If there is already an estate plan in place when a person gets remarried, it should be reviewed. A new marriage is a major life event that needs to be addressed in an estate plan. Beneficiaries, insurance policies and other financial accounts will all need to be updated. When there is a new marriage, the biological children from previous marriages should also be addressed in the estate plan. A will may not be enough to protect a person’s assets and leave them to whom they intend.

Some blended families may find that establishing a trust is preferable. A trust offers many options to pass along assets, including protecting assets if a spouse remarries after a person’s death, transferring assets to children and transferring assets to a spouse upon death and then passing the remaining assets to children after that spouse’s death.

Blended families are common in the Myrtle Beach area. It’s wonderful that so many people can make a fresh start, but sometimes these families come with complications. A legal professional can help their clients with their estate planning needs. An attorney understands that each family is different and can customize an estate plan that makes sense for their client’s life situation. They can make sure their client’s needs are met both now and in the future, while protecting their assets so that they are distributed as their client wishes.

It is important for blended families to understand how important estate planning is. Many times, a blended family brings contention when it comes to assets. If a plan is in place, it can minimize family drama.