Below is an excerpt from an interesting article discussing Estate Planning In A Blended Marriage. For the full article, you can click the link below:
From the Aiken Standard:
The best definition of a blended family is one in which one or both spouses enter the marriage with children from a previous marriage. Believe it or not, these relationships now outnumber traditional nuclear families, and experts believe that their numbers are likely to increase, based on current social trends.
There is a lot of psychological pressure in blended families, since spouses are attempting to provide for their new partner, their children from a previous marriage and any children with their new spouse.
When you throw aging parents, grandparents and others into the mix, the emotional and financial challenges can be enormous.
The first issue that must be dealt with is: how will current family expenses be handled and where will the money come from? In many cases these current expenses are involved with alimony and/or child support – either paid to a former spouse or received from a previous spouse.
Couples must decide how these financial arrangements will be handled and the impact on the blended family.
It is not a bad idea to have discussions with the ex-spouse(s) to discuss these issues and possibly have an attorney draft a formal agreement to cover all of the financial issues that are not specifically dealt with in the divorce and child support agreements.
One of the most important…
Read more: ON THE MONEY: Financial planning in a blended marriage | Aiken Standard
About the Author