The Unique Challenges of Blended Families
If you’re part of a blended family, you likely can already appreciate some of the challenges you’ll face when estate planning. These are some common difficulties:
- Keeping the will and other estate planning documents up to date
- Dividing assets between children from a first marriage and those from a subsequent marriage
- Dividing physical assets like homes and other real estate
- Dividing assets between stepchildren and biological children
- Ensuring former spouses do not have any claim to your assets
- Streamlining asset division while shielding heirs from estate tax as much as possible
If you don’t have a background in estate planning, these difficulties might seem like insurmountable barriers. However, when you enlist the help of an experienced attorney, blended family challenges can almost always be overcome.

Creating an Effective Estate Plan
Estate planning for blended families is tough under even the best of circumstances. Before you get started, keep these estate planning tips in mind:
Keep Communication Open
Talking about your estate plans with your family might seem odd and uncomfortable. However, if you communicate with your family members throughout the process, you can keep everyone on the same page and potentially prevent bitter disputes after your death.
Additionally, if you hold family meetings or otherwise communicate your plans for the division of specific assets, your family will gain an understanding of your intentions. If disputes arise later on, that insight can be extremely valuable.
Remember That Your Estate Plan Can Change
Crafting your estate plan can be a major undertaking. However, it’s not a one-and-done endeavor. You should regularly update your estate plan to make sure everything is current. It’s particularly critical to always keep your beneficiary designations up to date. Many inheritance disputes could have been prevented if the relevant documents had been updated.
Don’t Forget Powers of Attorney
Most people understand that estate planning lets you control who you leave assets to. However, a complete estate plan also covers who will make important decisions for you if you are incapacitated. These are two of the most relevant documents:
- Durable Healthcare Power of Attorney: Allows a trusted person to make medical decisions for you when you are unable to
- Durable Financial Power of Attorney: Allows a trusted person to make financial decisions for you when you are unable to
“Durable power of attorney” means the document allows the named person to make decisions for you. You will have the option of permittingthe person to immediately assume decision-making responsibility or wait until you are unable to make decisions for yourself.