When Your Child Gets Married - Again!

We are always delighted to find solutions for our clients.  With that in mind, here’s a concern that comes up from time to time which is worth exploring: Our clients have an adult child who remarries. Our clients want to make sure the new spouse does not inherit their money. This is not necessarily out of spite or ill-will; more often than not it’s a desire that their grandchildren inherit.

There are several ways to address this concern.

One way is to create a trust for your child and his/her children. The trust funds cannot be co-mingled with assets of the current marriage. In the trust, you specify that the trust property goes to your grandchildren when your child dies. So, even if your child leaves money and assets to a second – or third, fourth – spouse, the money in the trust is separate and goes to your grandchildren.

Another option is to leave only income from your estate to your child, but none of the principal. Upon your child’s death, the principal would go to your grandchildren.

Another solution is to leave part of your estate to your child and part to your grandchildren outright.

These options help you retain control of your estate even if your child and his/her new spouse have a prenuptial agreement. Each option may require further stipulations, based on your situation. For example, minor children cannot inherit, so a minor’s trust may be needed if your grandchildren are very young. Additionally, if you want to include future grandchildren as beneficiaries, we will need to review your plan regularly to keep it current – a service we offer to members of our Protected Partners Program.

As you can see from this short discussion, there are always options to pursue to reach your goals. And, finding the right option for your situation is what we like to do.

Our goal is to help you give …

• what you want
• to whom you want
• when you want.

Give us a call when you are ready to get your plan in writing. 302-651-0113.