November 6, 2015

A second marriage can raise many questions about who gets what, whether these people should get property, and will feelings be hurt? Each spouse should allot 30 minutes to spend time listing assets and discussing the potential future of these assets. Each member of the couple should also consider carefully what happens if the other spouse were to pass away first.

Getting married again provides the perfect opportunity to re-examine your will and make it as specific as possible in terms of beneficiary listings in particular. It is important that none of these beneficiary listings violate an existing divorce decree.

One common estate planning tool used by those in a second marriage is an irrevocable trust. This provides specificity of heirs, privacy and near certainty. As few irrevocable trusts are overturned in court, many require beneficiary approval and the judge to do this, making them an obvious choice for estate planning purposes.