Whether you have been married 5 years or 50, you may have a common estate planning concern: what if one of you dies and the survivor remarries? A new relationship after the death of a spouse does not necessarily diminish the love the survivor had for the deceased spouse, but it can diminish their children’s inheritance.
Many couples have Wills in which they leave all assets to the other, relying on the other spouse to provide for the children after both of them have died. But a surviving spouse who loses mental or physical capacity after remarrying will usually rely on the new spouse to handle financial matters. If the couple is elderly, it is not uncommon for the new spouse’s children to take control. Somewhere along the way, a new Will is executed by the surviving spouse leaving all assets to the new spouse or his or her children.
Planning to protect your children’s inheritance is not difficult. Instead of leaving everything outright to your surviving spouse, you can leave your assets in a Trust. All of the income (interest and dividends) can be paid to the survivor, and the Trustee can be given authority to invade principal if needed for the surviving spouse’s health and support. The surviving spouse can serve as a Trustee, but to protect the Trust assets there should be a Co-Trustee, such as a sibling, adult child, close friend, accountant or bank.
If the assets are in a well drafted Trust, the new spouse, and that person’s children, will not have the ability to divert the Trust assets. At the surviving spouse’s death, the remaining Trust assets will be distributed to your children.
Making a Trust part of your estate plan is easy to accomplish while you are alive and mentally competent. You and your spouse can’t know which one of you is going to become incapacitated or die first, so it’s vital to protect each other and your children by implementing a plan while you are both able.
To learn even more about why you should implement a plan now, we invite you to attend one of our Free Workshops where you can learn even more about how you can really protect you and your loved ones. Go ahead and click to register today: http://debrarobinsonlaw.com/workshops/
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