Blended families bring together people with different pasts so they can have a shared future. They’re particularly beautiful testimonies to the best of what makes us human. However, when it comes to inheritance matters, the Louisiana laws involved can strain those bonds if a family doesn’t engage in careful estate planning in Shreveport. 

When you build a life with a new spouse and children from previous relationships, your goals usually include caring for your current partner while still providing for your own kids. Default inheritance rules here in Louisiana do not always line up with those goals, however. Without careful planning, your assets could end up with an ex-spouse, your children from a first marriage could lose out, or your stepchildren could end up receiving nothing because they have no automatic legal claim.

What fixes all this? Clear documents and a clear plan. 

A good, clear will gives you a starting point to name your beneficiaries and guardians and leave personal items to everyone through a separate letter of instruction. This approach is fine for a very straightforward situations, but bear in mind it does route the assets through Louisiana’s succession process, which is public and can take months. In blended families that extra exposure sometimes invites challenges.

A revocable living trust offers more control. You transfer some of your assets into the trust while you are alive, keep full authority to change or revoke it while living, and name a successor trustee to take over after your death. Trusts can do all kinds of things and disburse the assets on a timetable, in response to milestones, or allow for adjustments based on what your children do. 

A qualified terminable interest property trust, or QTIP trust, addresses a common concern that blended families often have. With this type of trust, you can place assets in the trust through your will or revocable trust, and your surviving spouse will receive income from the trust and can use any property for life, even if they remarry. However, they cannot sell the principal, gift it away, or redirect it to a new spouse or child. 

Then, when your spouse passes, whatever remains goes exactly to the beneficiaries you named, which would typically be your children from an earlier relationship. This structure gives your current spouse financial security and stability while removing doubt for your children about what will happen later. 

Beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts, life insurance, bank accounts, and investment accounts override the will and aren’t subject to the probate process. They’re a great way to be sure that assets go to specific people, but in blended families, it’s not uncommon for people to forget to update these after remarriage. If that happens, the assets could end up going to a former spouse. 

Taking the right steps now can bring real peace of mind and help your blended family stay united through the years ahead. Call Walter D. White, A Professional Law Corporation, in Shreveport today to set up a free consultation.