What’s Fair in a Second Marriage and Estate Planning?

After losing a spouse to divorce or death, falling in love again can feel like a new beginning. But joining your life with someone else has financial implications that you and your partner need to consider, especially if children are involved.

Generally, couples want a fair arrangement for managing individual and joint estates. Understanding the critical issues of second marriages and estate planning can help you make decisions that are right for everyone.

Questions for Couples to Consider

If you and your partner have or are considering marriage, there are important questions you should ask yourselves and each other. For instance, there’s the decision to update individual estate plans versus generating a new joint plan. Here are more issues you and your partner need to discuss:

• Assets you plan to leave to each of your children and additional children you have together
• Assets, liabilities, and property you’ll still hold individually
• Liabilities each of you will bring and debts you’ll incur jointly after marriage
• Which assets or property to re-title
• Current Wills that need updating
• Decisions regarding power of attorney, healthcare directives, and other such arrangements

Ideally, you should discuss these topics before you tie the knot to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings later. If you’re already married, bringing it up as soon as possible is essential.

Review Current Beneficiary Designations

If you’ve already named beneficiaries for your assets, it’s worth looking into the possibility of adjusting those designations upon remarrying. For instance, an ex-spouse named in a 401(k) or life insurance policy could still collect those funds upon death if you don’t name your new spouse as your beneficiary.

Don’t forget to review your other assets, like real estate and bank accounts, to determine whether to add your new spouse to those titles. If you have a house and add your spouse as a joint tenant with rights of survivorship, that means if anything happens to you, the house immediately belongs to them. If you prefer an alternative arrangement, specify so in a Will or trust.

What If There Are Children?

Blending families means more children to love. This type of merger can also add some complexities to estate planning. You and your spouse may have different ideas about distributing assets among your children after death, which you’ll need to resolve. You must also figure out guardianship of minor children and who resumes control over the estate when you’re gone.

If you have children from a previous marriage, you’ll want to review the terms of your Will to see if they affect what your new spouse and children will inherit. Consider setting up a separate marital trust so that your current spouse will receive their share to protect what will go to your children.

Advice from a Cincinnati Estate Planning Lawyer

With a second marriage, knowing what’s fair in estate planning can be difficult to determine. That’s why consulting with a local estate and probate lawyer with Donnellon, Donnellon & Miller is beneficial. Our legal team is familiar with the many legal implications and issues that come with a second marriage. They’ll help you navigate those complexities and create an estate plan that’s suitable for everyone. They can also recommend local financial advisors to help you identify financial goals and secure your future.