Estate Plans For Blended Families

4 tips on getting it right.

Estate plans for blended families.

Drafting an estate plan by no means ensures a smoothly blended family. Financial planners need to work closely and continuously with blended families to ensure their often diverse and complex financial goals are met successfully said jacqueline power director of tax and estate planning with toronto based mackenzie financial corp. Estate planning considerations for blended families by jennifer l. Of those divorced from their first spouse over half will remarry.

Not only are the financial issues of blended families more complex but the emotional issues around those decisions are much more intense especially when dealing with the competing. That s why it s critical to maintain meaningful and ongoing communication among all concerned parties. Mike and carol brady were the iconic blended family each bringing 3 children into the marriage and raising them as one big happy family. While any estate planning must be done on a case by case basis the following are options to consider for blended families.

Estate planning for these individuals is much more complicated than it is for any other group. Families with children whose spouses have children from previous marriages. Estate planning for blended families. As a result a tremendous number of blended families exist in the united states today a blended family is defined as a family that includes children from a previous marriage of one spouse or both.

As the rates of divorce and remarriage climb those with recently blended families may be witness ing the emergence of troublesome estate planning issues. Typically individuals in blended families want to provide for the spouse as well as the children from the previous marriage. At the canadian institute of financial planners 16th annual national conference in halifax on tuesday. I wonder what their estate planning looked like.

If it s deemed an existing estate plan doesn t provide adequate support. In today s world many first marriages end in divorce. Some blended families use reciprocal wills where the assets pass outright to the surviving spouse as their primary estate plan. This trend has resulted in a large number of blended families with special.

Blended families can face complex estate planning challenges.