Prioritizing California Estate Planning Objectives in a Blended Family. In today’s society, blended families are becoming more common than ever. It is perhaps even more important that couples who have children from previous relationships create a thorough California estate plan to ensure that their wishes are met. What types of goals and priorities should blended families consider?
The following is an overview:
- Saving money on estate, gift, capital gains, generation-skipping, and other taxes. Your Orange County estate planning lawyer can create a trust for you that can minimize the burden of these taxes.
- Protecting the inheritance of children from previous relationships following the passing of one spouse. Your Orange County trust attorney can help craft a trust that ensures that some portion of your estate will go to such child or children.
- Ensuring that your surviving spouse is well provided for.
- Ensuring that any children who receive benefits from the federal government do not inadvertently lose these benefits if they were to receive an inheritance from you. Fortunately, special trusts can be designed to help ensure that your beneficiaries will not be disqualified from receiving their benefits.
- Preventing the mismanagement of money inherited by children. Your attorney can help design a trust that reduces the likelihood that your beneficiaries will waste trust assets.
While some of the above goals may mirror those of families without children from previous relationships, there are other goals that are unique to this type of family structure. It is vital that you consult with a knowledgeable Orange County trust lawyer who understands the specific needs of blended families when creating an estate plan.
Prioritizing California Estate Planning Objectives in a Blended Family. To learn more about living trusts and how they may benefit your family, view our free guide, Understanding the Revocable Living Trust – In Language That Anyone Can Understand in 8 Minutes. Call our office of experienced Orange County estate planning attorneys today for more information. Contact us at (714) 282-7488 for a consultation.