ESTATE PLANNING FOR BLENDED FAMILIES

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Remember the Brady Bunch – that “his, mine, and ours” family sit-com where everyone was always smiling? Blended families are incredibly common these days but those “happily ever after” story lines are not, especially after one spouse dies. That’s why getting your finances in order is a must- before the two families become one. Estate planning attorney Rebecca Doane says in a blended family, when one spouse dies, there is no guarantee the children from the first marriage will be provided for, regardless of what the surviving spouse has pledged.

“What I see is first spouse dies the children from the previous marriage don’t really contact your spouse, so 5 or 10 years go by there’s been no contact, he’s completely forgotten about them, and he of course is still seeing his own children from previous marriage and then all the joint assets go to his children.”

If you need help with blended family or any other estate planning matters, call Doane and Doane at 561-656-0200 or log onto doaneanddoane.com.