The majority of family conflicts and Florida inheritance issues arise due to a lack of estate planning, such as:
- The decedent didn’t have a will.
- The decedent had a will, but it was old and possibly outdated.
- A person didn’t have a living will or healthcare surrogate, and their family disagreed about their treatment at their most vulnerable time.
- An incapacitated person didn’t have a durable power of attorney.
- The decedent had been married multiple times and had children from different relationships but did not express their wishes on how each should be treated.
While you can’t avoid every possible conflict, you can reduce the risk of family conflicts with proper estate planning.
Estate planning for blended families in Florida is complex
You may have children in your current relationship but also have children from a previous relationship. At the same time, your significant other may have children from their previous relationship. You both want to provide for all your children in a way that’s fair, and you may have concerns about protecting specific assets or keeping them in the family.
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the issues that come up in blended family estate planning and what you need to consider.
Blended Families Need Extra Planning
Florida’s inheritance laws create several potential challenges for blended families. Let’s take a look at a few laws you should be aware of:
Step children Don’t Receive an Inheritance If You Pass Without a Will
Under Florida’s intestacy laws, your surviving spouse will receive half your estate, and your children will share the other half. If you have a stepchild that you’ve raised for years and see as your own child, you will need to either legally adopt them or include them in your will in order for them to inherit from your estate.
Your Legal Spouse Can’t Be Disinherited from Some Assets
Florida law includes a concept called the spouse’s “elective share.” This means that a surviving spouse may elect to take one third of the decedent’s estate. So, even if you attempt to leave your entire estate to someone other than your legal spouse, the legal spouse could still elect to take their share.
Homestead Rules
Florida also has homestead laws that affect your primary residence. If you are survived by a legal spouse and/or minor children, they will be entitled to take your primary residence, called a homestead, by operation of law, even without a will. If you are survived by a spouse and adult children from a different relationship, they will also be entitled to take your homestead by operation of law. In this situation, it becomes messy, as now your spouse and your adult children from a previous relationship own a property together.
Beneficiary Designations Matter
Certain financial accounts are set up to pass by contract, outside of a will or probate court, to a specified beneficiary. These include life insurance policies, retirement accounts, annuities, and pay-on-death bank accounts. Unfortunately, it’s very common for people to forget about these accounts and their designated beneficiaries when they go through a significant life change, like getting remarried, having more children, or grieving the death of a loved one. So, a large amount of money may pass to a previous spouse or go to older children while younger children don’t receive a share or another relative who is no longer the intended beneficiary.
Common Problems Affecting Blended Families in the Estate Planning Context
One of the biggest issues that blended families deal with after the death of a loved one is outdated or unclear estate documents, which can lead to disputes and create a permanent rift in the family. The surviving spouse, who may not have been the spouse at the time of executing the estate planning documents, or some of the children may feel that the estate plan is unfair or that it does not reflect their deceased parent’s true wishes at their death.
Healthcare surrogates & durable powers of attorney are often overlooked documents to update. For example, let’s say that a Florida resident in his 60s is divorced, so he names his adult daughter to act as a healthcare surrogate and make medical decisions if he is unable to do so.
But what happens if he gets remarried a few years later and doesn’t think about updating his healthcare surrogate forms? If he becomes seriously ill and the hospital checks the paperwork they have on file, they will see that the daughter is listed as his healthcare surrogate. His new wife could be upset that she isn’t allowed to make decisions for her husband, especially if she disagrees with the daughter. They might end up in a heated legal battle over his medical treatment.
A similar situation could arise if he had created a durable power of attorney, allowing his daughter to make various financial decisions on his behalf.
As you can see from these examples, outdated or unclear documents can lead to serious legal issues during an already stressful time. Unfortunately, some of these situations end with protracted courtroom proceedings and family strife.
At the Law Offices of Rina Feld, we want to help our clients avoid these kinds of conflicts if possible, so we always advise clients to review documents frequently and make updates as needed. That generally means reviewing documents and considering updates after any major life change, such as marriage, divorce, remarriage, having more children or grandchildren, changes in income/wealth, etc. And on a general timeline, every 5 years or so.
Protecting a Current Spouse and Children from a Prior Relationship
Because inheritance laws can make a second marriage more complicated, careful estate planning for Florida families is essential. Many clients we talk to want to ensure their children from a previous marriage don’t miss out on their inheritance. At the same time, they also want to provide for their new spouse and sometimes children from the second marriage.
This is why estate planning for blended families in Florida is essential. An experienced estate planning lawyer will listen to your goals and help you develop a plan to ensure everyone is provided for after your passing, whether through planning documents or beneficiary designations.
How Trusts May Help Clarify Wishes in Blended Families
There are many different types of trusts that serve many different purposes for various circumstances, whether familial or financial, or for other personal reasons. Trusts can be revocable (you can continue to make changes) or irrevocable (you can’t make changes once the trust is created). Here’s what you need to know about trusts:
- When a trust is formed, you can transfer assets into it, and these assets are managed by a trustee. Depending on the type of trust, this could be you or someone else you choose.
- Trusts can allow assets to pass to heirs without the hassle of the probate process.
- Trusts are also private and do not typically undergo court oversight, allowing the terms to remain private.
- Some people use trusts to protect assets while remaining eligible for Medicaid or other assistance with long-term care.
- In some cases, placing assets in a trust can also help heirs reduce or avoid federal inheritance taxes.
- There are multiple types of trusts. If you are considering one, a Florida estate planning attorney can help you better understand which kind of trust might be a good fit for your situation.
Speak With a Florida Estate Planning Attorney
If you need help with estate planning for your blended family in Florida, the Law Offices of Rina Feld is here to help. Contact us today for a free 15-minute consultation to learn more about your options.
Adding this at the end makes the sentence a little confusing. Maybe we could say, “So, a large amount of money may pass to a previous spouse or older children, while younger children or another relative who isn’t the intended beneficiary doesn’t receive a share.”