Introduction to Estate Planning for Blended Families

In this Elder Law Minute, Kaye Dent explains how Dent Coulson Elder Law (DCEL) can assist you in blended family estate planning to ensure effective control and decision-making.

Why Estate Planning Matters for Blended Families

Hi, I’m Kaye DeSelms Dent from Dent Coulson Elder Law. Today, we’re discussing why estate planning is crucial for blended families. This process often starts sooner than you might expect. We hope you find this information helpful. For more details, contact us at Dent Coulson Elder Law.

Balancing Roles in a Blended Family

When you have a blended family, several factors must be considered. You need to balance the roles and interests of your new spouse and your children, whether they are young or adults. Your estate planning should reflect your family dynamics, beliefs, and wishes.

For example, in my blended family, my husband and I each had young sons when we married. We chose to treat them equally. However, this may not work for every blended family due to various factors like when you married and what each partner brought into the relationship. Thus, deciding who should make specific decisions is crucial.

Involving Both Spouse and Children

It might seem natural to let your spouse handle health care and financial decisions. Yet, it’s often wise to involve trusted adult children. Building good relationships between your spouse and children is important, even if they aren’t very close. They need to understand your estate plan and get along, starting while you are still alive.

Ensuring Clear Decision-Making

Ensure everyone involved in decision-making is included. You don’t want your adult children to be excluded if you’re unable to make decisions, nor should your spouse be left out. The attorneys at Dent Coulson Elder Law can help you develop strategies to balance interests and ensure your estate plan works smoothly after you’re gone.

Get in Touch

For help with estate planning for blended families and to ensure your plan works for everyone, contact us at Dent Coulson Elder Law for your consultation.

Also looking for information about Medicaid and Asset Preservation? Visit these articles:

• • Do Living Trusts Protect Assets From Medicaid or VA Spend Down?
  • How an Asset Preservation Trust Protects Your Life Savings From Long-Term Care Costs
  • Why Do I Need an Asset Preservation Plan?

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“Your Trusted Advisor on the Elder Care Journey”

Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (618) 632-7000 (IL) or (314) 567-9292 (MO), or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.