As is common, I spoke with a potential new client today from Dublin, and he mentioned that he and his wife had been meaning to do estate planning “for a while” and just now were getting around to it. I don’t think anyone does it right when they think they should. I also met with a client in Pleasanton last week, and this couple had a common family set up: one spouse had children from a previous marriage and they were concerned about estate planning. Here are the reasons why estate planning when you have a blended family (one or both spouses have children from a prior relationship or marriage) is critical – do you really want to take the chance of dis-inheriting your children?
- Like my clients last weekend, many couples think they have “nothing” and therefore do not need estate planning. The reality is that if you have $150,000 in gross property (that is, assets – a house, investments, etc. – without regard to any debt, so you can be upside down on your house and still have $150,000 in property for these purposes) in California, then when you pass, your estate will go to probate, which is a lengthy, complex, and expensive court process to resolve your estate. My belief is that anyone with a home in California needs an estate plan – and this is doubly true if you also have children. I do not charge for initial consultations, and one of the many reasons is that I believe that you must make informed decisions about what is best for your family. I don’t want to put any hurdles up in front of you getting the information you need.
- If you don’t choose a guardian for your children, if you cannot care for them, then the court (and a stranger in a black robe) will decide for you. In a blended family, in most cases, this will mean the other parent will get custody. In many cases, this is not a problem because custody is shared. In cases where it isn’t, or perhaps where the other parent lives far away, or there are other circumstances, you may want to designate someone else. For example, say you live in San Ramon and your ex lives in Montana. Your two teenagers have a good relationship with your ex but see him/her for holidays and some time in the summer. Should something happen to you, it might make more sense for the teens to stay with your current spouse until they reach 18, and keep some stability in home, school, friends, activities, and time with your ex. If you don’t have a conversation about this ahead of time, however, it could turn into a mess where your children are not only grieving the loss of a parent, but also are the subject of a custody battle. If you don’t decide? Someone else will.
- Do you really want to disinherit your children? Many of us somehow think we know how our lives will play out. Many couples assume they both will live long, fruitful and healthy lives, and then the man will die first, followed not too long by the woman. In the case of a blended family where the wife is the one with children from a prior relationship, this may work well. When the husband dies, everything goes to wife and she distributes her estate as she wishes, to her children. But what if it doesn’t happen that way? What if something happens to wife early in life – say in her 50s – and the husband goes on to live another 30 years, remarries, and has a ‘second’ life with his new wife and family? Without estate planning, everything of the couple’s goes to the husband when the wife dies, and then 30 years later when the husband dies, there may be nothing to go to wife’s children, or husband may be estranged from them of merely closer to his wife and the family he built with his wife over 30 years. ONLY estate planning with a living trust (i.e. not a simple will) can avoid this very real potential situation.
An estate planning attorney’s job is to make sure that you and your family, and what you want to happen with you, your family, and your estate, are protected regardless of what happens in the future. We all love our family more than anything, so what are you waiting for to protect yours?
Christina McPherson, Attorney: McPherson Law Group - Estate Planning, Living Trusts 
December 14, 2012 at 3:07 AM
A considerable technological advance has been the development of devices which stiffen the palate, like the Pillar Procedure (R).
Comparable for the way battens stiffen a sail, the
Pillar Procedure® performs to minimize the fluttering or vibration from the soft palate that is often
responsible for generating the noxious noise of snoring.
The pillars are tiny woven implants created from the exact same material which has
been used in surgery to repair hernias as well as other health-related procedures for over
50 years. Utilizing local anesthesia, these pillars might be inserted into the soft palate in a specialized Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) physician’s office, in much less than 20 minutes. Employing a really sophisticated syringe, the implants are inserted into the palate with out any cutting or stitching. Whilst initially only 3 pillars were inserted in to the soft palate, a dosage response to the procedure has been realized. Most individuals require more than 3 pillars, but this ultimately is dependent upon every single patient’s anatomy.
This unbelievable FDA-approved advancement has generated a bed partner
satisfaction rate of over 90% at one particular year, according to bed partners of chronic snorers (nonetheless, this study was performed prior to the dosage response was understood; final results might be better these days). [2] No main complications happen to be linked with this process. The results of the Pillar Procedure® is largely attributed to its tissue sparing approach and ability to capitalize on the body’s natural response towards the pillar inserts-fibrotic tissue forms around the pillars, which stiffen the palate as a result minimizing snoring. Remedies like the Pillar Procedure® offer a significant reduction inside the risk of extreme complications in comparison with a lot more aggressive surgeries like UPPP, which have substantial danger factors, considerable downtime and failure rates in excess of 50%.
[3]