How to Estate Plan With Blended Families

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Get tax savings.

   Good estate planning requires you to have a specific goal in mind and have ordered priorities.
   
   This will help you develop the best plan for your situation.
   
   Estate planning can bring you certain tax savings.
   
   You can save money on your estate tax, gift tax, capital gains, generation-skipping, and inheritance tax.
   
   This can be a motivating factor for you to take the time to estate plan.
   
   If you are interested in trying to save on estate taxes, you may consider opening a trust.
   
   Many trusts offer tax savings as well as some kind of control over the money even after your death.
2. 2

   Step 2: Provide for your children.

   Protecting the future of your children can become especially important with blended families.
   
   This becomes more complicated when you add in additional children from your spouse.
   
   You may want to provide for your stepchildren as well as any children that you and your new spouse have together.
   
   Ensuring that at least a portion of your estate passes to your children instead of your spouse may require a little planning and should be taken into consideration as you start the planning process., A common goal in estate planning is to ensure that a second or third spouse is taken care of.
   
   If you want to make sure that your spouse gets a portion of your estate, you will have to take this into consideration as you plan your estate.A common misconception is that if you die without a Will, all of your estate passes to your spouse.
   
   The spouse will likely get a portion of it, but it usually gets divided between the spouse or domestic partner and the children of the deceased.
   
   However, each state has its own laws that dictate these decisions., You can choose to provide for an ex-spouse in your estate plan.
   
   This will depend on the length of the marriage and the relationship you still have with your ex-spouse.
   
   If you would like to provide for your ex-spouse, you must make clear provisions in your estate plan. , If you have a particular way you want the money you leave certain people in your life to be spent, you can set up a trust.
   
   A number of trusts can be set up to ensure that beneficiaries, who are those receiving the money, spend your money the way you want them to spend it.
   
   This also prevents them from mismanaging the amount, especially if it is a large sum.
   
   For example, a trust can allow you to stipulate that your adult children only receive inheritance funds for educational purposes.
   
   You can also make the funds available only after they reach a certain age.
3. 3

   Step 3: Make provisions for your spouse.

4. 4

   Step 4: Consider your ex-spouse.

5. 5

   Step 5: Protect beneficiaries.

Detailed Guide

About the Author