Blended Family Trust

Blended Family Trust

Your husband died leaving you with two grown children but who still could use more advice than they ask for, especially in financial matters.  You have saved the life insurance proceeds from your deceased husband and wish to preserve it for your children.

You have recently grown to love another man who has three children.  You both have good jobs and share many interests.  You and he share the same goals for saving for the future and in reducing debts on cars and the house.

You contemplated a prenuptial agreement, but your impression of the “standard form” that you found on-line does not provide the flexibility you hope to keep.  You want to be able to change the deal if circumstances change as you think they could.  Yet there are parts that you want to keep as firm and inviolate as possible.  You certainly want to be protected in the event he dies and you want him to have the benefit of what you and he accumulated together in case you die.  But you do want your children to get what you preserved of their father’s estate.  Things like Augmented Estate and Elective Share may be a great benefit for some surviving spouses but those rules seem too arbitrary for your taste.

Knowing that your wishes were partly selfish and partly very generous, you sought the advice of a local estate planning attorney whose website indicated an awareness of the problems.

At the appointment your attorney spent a little time asking questions, a lot of time just listening, and only occasionally making a remark or two to help verify that he understood your meaning.  When you and he were both confident he understood your wishes and desires, he offered suggestions.

The attorney suggested that a trust would provide the best tool to accomplish your goals.  He reported that trusts come in many shapes and sizes, that the agreement will be enforced by the probate courts and sometimes by divorce courts, that it is important to state clearly what you want, and to be cognizant that choosing one option forecloses other options.  Each option has its costs, he reported, but there is no “right” choice.  Every person has a different set of priorities, so every trust should be written a little differently.

After the attorney’s review with you of the options that your choices seemed to give up, you felt better and assured him that you felt reaffirmed in your choices.  He thanked you for your clearheaded decision.

The next week, the attorney reviewed with you his clearly written trust agreement and you found that you understood what the instructions would mean in varying circumstances.

That evening your fiancé thanked you for making his life so much simpler and for making it easier for the step-children to like their new step-parents.

Witte Law Office

6125 Havelock Ave

Lincoln, NE 8507

402-467-5080

glen@wittelawoffice.com