Each spouse may bring children, assets and obligations acquired in a previous marriage or partnership to the new family configuration, creating many challenges, not the least of which is estate planning.
If your family is a mixture of “mine, yours, and ours,” you will need to balance the needs of your spouse or partner and his or her children with the needs of your children from your previous marriage or relationship. This may become complicated and even contentious at times, but carefully identifying your goals and the needs of all concerned can simplify the process and ensure that everyone’s needs are met in your estate planning strategy. A New Jersey estate planning lawyer at KingBarnes will help you do just this.
If you are a parent or partner in a mixed family situation and want to make sure that every member of your family is accounted for in your estate plan, visit KingBarnes today. Our firm has more than 20 years of estate planning experience and we know how to use New Jersey’s laws and the available estate planning tools to accomplish your goals. We will help you decide if you and your spouse or partner need wills, wish to establish trusts, or prefer a combination of tools, as well as discuss appointing guardians and conservators to protect all the family’s children in the event of either or both parents’ death. We will review your insurance policies and retirement accounts to ensure that you have updated the named beneficiaries to reflect your new family circumstances, and will ensure that your estate and the estate of your new spouse or partner are carefully designed to avoid conflict or the exclusion of any child from a share of the blended family’s assets.
