You are thinking of doing your estate planning, but you just got married for the second time. Your first marriage ended in divorce. Is there anything you need to know about planning the second time around?
There certainly is. Estate planning grows more complex the more people are involved. Here are a few things to consider.
First, you need to have an open conversation with all family members about your plan. Do you have children from the first marriage? Do you or your new spouse have kids from this new relationship, or in your spouse’s case, a different previous relationship? Get everyone together to talk about how you’ll do things.
Remember that you may have an obligation to your ex. Are you paying alimony? Do you owe child support? How do these obligations fit into your financial picture, and ultimately, your estate plan?
If you already did some estate planning in the past, the key is to update it. You need to make sure that the beneficiaries that you chose actually fit your wishes at the current time. For instance, if you named your ex as a beneficiary for your life insurance plan, you need to change that so that the money would go to your current spouse. You may also need to update your will, your investments, your retirement plans and much more.
These are certainly not all of the key points to think about when writing a will or drafting an estate plan, but they can help you get started. Take your time and learn about all of the legal options you have.