Estate Planning Especially Tricky for Blended Families

July 31, 2009

Those individuals who divorce and remarry create what is often referred to as a blended family. Stepchildren can often cause complications when trying to make an estate plan, which will be left behind after a parent’s death. For this reason, many estate-planning specialists recommend that individuals hire their own personal attorneys to draft wills and living wills.

The following are five situations where separate attorneys for remarried parents are highly recommended:

1. An imbalance in the number of children on each side- this is especially true if one of the individuals has no children.
2. If a pre-nuptial agreement was signed before the marriage.
3. The number of previous marriages for each individual.
4. The length of the relationship- those individuals who have not been in relationships for long should consider separate counsel.
5. An economic imbalance- if one individual is dependent on the other.