Tips on Estate Planning for Your 2nd Marriage
Finding love again is something that everyone deserves to find. However, if you have an estate plan in place or you are looking to do an estate plan shortly, there are certain things you should consider. The most important thing to consider is your children from your previous marriage and your new spouse and family. If you are thinking about estate planning for your second marriage, here are three things that you should start thinking about from SmithTaire Legal.
1. Setting Up a New Trust
One of the first steps you should take when estate planning for your second marriage is to set up a new trust. This involves creating a legal document that states who will hold onto your assets when you pass away. You select a trustee who you want to be in charge of your property, savings, and other valuable items. If you have young children who are not 18 yet, you may want to choose a person who will hold onto their assets for them until they become adults and can receive them. However, if you already have a trust, you must review it and ensure that it doesn’t need to be updated.
A common situation that often arises when a person selects their new spouse as their trustee is that the new spouse doesn’t give anything to the person’s biological children when they pass away. Instead, they may remarry and start spending the money left behind extravagantly. Then, the children become concerned and must seek legal help from a lawyer to remove the person from their parent’s trust. While you may not be worried about this happening to you, you should consider it when trying to protect your assets and ensure that your children and spouse are both taken care of.
2. Leaving Retirement Accounts and Life Insurance to Include Everyone
The biggest mistake that a person can make after getting remarried is not to check or update their beneficiaries. This usually happens because they assume their beneficiary will change automatically once they remarry. However, this is not the case, and you should set aside enough time to review and update your beneficiaries for your retirement accounts and life insurance policies as soon as possible.
Your life insurance and retirement accounts will be distributed to the individuals you have listed as your beneficiary. It is up to you to decide who you want to be your beneficiary, but most people in their second marriage choose their adult child, new spouse, or another family member. You must note that you can have multiple beneficiaries to include everyone important to you.
If you do not look over and update your beneficiaries, there is a good chance that you might’ve listed your ex-spouse as the beneficiary. That said, if you were to pass away before you update this information, they could end up with everything in your 401k account and life insurance policy, which is a scenario that you likely want to avoid.
3. Starting the Conversation With Your Family About Your Estate Plan
Before you meet with your lawyer to start the Georgia estate planning process, you should have an honest, heart-to-heart conversation about your estate plan goals with your family members. It is never easy to start this conversation because most people become sad, uncomfortable, and overwhelmed when thinking about the possibility of dying and no longer being there for their families. However, you must put these feelings aside and begin talking with your new spouse, children, parents, siblings, and anyone who is part of your will.
During this conversation, you want to explain which assets you plan to leave to whom and how you plan to meet with an attorney to finalize this plan. This will clear up any confusion about who gets what when you die. In addition, it may prevent any future bickering or arguments about your properties, savings, retirement accounts, and other assets.
What is the Best Trust for a Second Marriage?
Consider a revocable trust if you are looking for a trust for your second marriage. This type of trust has various purposes, but one of the best parts is that it allows children from your first marriage to have still a say-so regarding your property and assets left behind. In addition, you can ensure that your assets remain separated from your new spouse’s assets, and you can spend, manage, and change your assets anytime that you desire.
Another great benefit of a revocable trust is that you can select your adult child as the independent trustee over it if you wish. This type of trust will ensure that your children’s assets and future are secure even though you remarried. They will not have to worry or stress over what will happen to their belongings after they pass away.
How a Georgia Estate Planning Attorney Can Help
An estate planning attorney has the necessary experience, skills, and knowledge to handle estate planning issues. Therefore, if you face any obstacles or challenges during this process, your estate planning lawyer will act as a guide to help you overcome them. Estate planning for a second marriage can be very complex, so you must consult with an estate planning attorney who will review your current estate planning documents and recommend new ones that you should consider. When you become stressed and frustrated during this process, you can lean on an attorney who knows the ins and outs of estate planning and how to assist you with meeting your goals.
If you need assistance creating or revising your estate planning documents, Jammie Taire and the Smith Taire Legal team can help. We educate our clients on their estate planning options and ensure their final wishes are legally binding. Call us at 678-253-8133 or fill out our online contact form if you have questions about your estate planning or wish to meet with an experienced Georgia estate planning attorney today. Our team is also ready and available to help if you believe you have a Georgia personal injury case.