Top Estate Planning Lawyer Doug Newborn founder of Doug Newborn Law Firm, PLLC, in Tucson, AZ offers guidance on estate planning for couples in second marriages. For more information please visit https://dougnewbornlawfirm.com
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Second marriages can often present challenges that couples may not have contemplated when considering the way forward for estate planning, asserted Doug Newborn.
For more information please visit https://dougnewbornlawfirm.com
Some 60% of couples in the US in a second or subsequent marriage have at least one child from another relationship. It is within these blended family circumstances that couples need to carefully navigate when grappling with wills and trusts.
He said: “Unintentionally, children from first marriages could be disinherited as part of the estate planning process if couples don’t fully consider their spouses and offspring. Ideally, second-marriage inheritance matters should be addressed urgently before or after the wedding.”
One key aspect of updating estate planning documents is ensuring they fully reflect changing times within the family dynamic. Some documents may be out of date now that a couple has aged and there are more children on the scene.
Newborn advised that couples should consult with an estate planning lawyer to work their way through all the pitfalls in their current (or nonexistent) estate plan to ensure that they have thought of everything and everyone.
“Various factors, such as children from previous relationships, child support, joint property with a former spouse, and retirement investments, can all be looked at in the mix,” he said.
One aspect is whether, now in a second marriage, to merge the estate plans or keep them separate. He added that when the first spouse dies, their surviving spouse could remarry and/or leave everything to their own children. This would remove children from a first marriage from receiving an inheritance.
‘’Another challenging consideration is deciding whether assets should be combined or kept separate. If assets are made joint, your new spouse is entitled to them. Assets that are separate could be designated to children from a first marriage,” explained Newborn.
Income and property obtained during a marriage are considered joint property, but not if acquired prior to a second marriage or if the property has never been commingled. If assets have been commingled, a spouse will likely inherit a 100% interest in the asset. The potential here is that a second spouse changes the will and leaves assets to their own children.
Estate planning considerations should also run long-term care considerations. While spouses have a legal obligation to support each other, if one needs long-term nursing home care, the other’s assets may be used to pay bills. Newborn advised that the couple seek further legal counsel on this matter.
Updating beneficiaries should also be applied to other forgotten paperwork, such as life insurance and pension rights. If a person still lists their ex-spouse on an insurance/pension payout but has remarried and not updated their insurance or pension beneficiary designations, the beneficiary designation may hold (depending on the type of pension or life insurance), and the ex-spouse could receive the payment. Updating your beneficiaries should also apply to retirement savings, insurance, brokerage accounts, and property.
He advised couples also to consider listing beneficiaries for everything from family heirlooms and memorabilia.
If a new spouse is moving into a property held before marriage by their spouse, that person will have to consider whether to list them or whether any children from a first marriage should inherit it.
“Add a spouse to the title, and they will inherit the home. A property title supersedes anything you put in your Will.” One option is to consider setting up a Trust that allows a spouse to reside in the house after the other’s death. When the surviving spouse dies, the original person’s children will inherit the home.
He said: “Estate planning is an opportunity for a person or a couple to plan ahead and legally lay out where they want assets to be distributed and for decisions to be made when the time comes. It ensures your assets go where you want them to.”
Source: http://RecommendedExperts.biz
Contact Info:
Name: Doug Newborn
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Organization: Doug Newborn Law Firm, PLLC
Address: 7315 N Oracle Rd Suite 230, Tucson, AZ 85704, United States
Phone: 520-636-1152
Website: https://dougnewbornlawfirm.com
Release ID: 89127951
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