You may love and care for your children and stepchildren equally. However, New York State estate law may discriminate against your stepchildren. That is, your stepchildren may not be granted the same automatic inheritance rights as your children. For this reason, you must make a conscious effort to include your stepchildren in your estate planning documents. For more information, please follow along to find out how to protect your stepchildren in your estate plan and how a proficient Putnam County estate planning attorney at the Law Office of Andres D. Gil, PLLC can work to ensure each of your loved family members is taken care of.
How do I ensure my stepchildren are protected in my estate plan?
The simplest way to ensure your stepchildren receive certain assets from your estate is by designating them as beneficiaries in your Last Will and Testament. With this, it is best to write the full legal name of each stepchild individually, rather than referring to them as your stepchildren or grouping them with your children. This is because there may be disputes over who is entitled to inherit which assets in the probate process in the future. And the oral agreements you made with your children and stepchildren may not hold much weight in the court setting.
Ultimately, if the language is vague and unclear, the New York State Surrogate’s Court may bestow your assets onto your biological or legally adopted children first and foremost. They may even have your children who were conceived before your death but born afterward inherit your estate before your stepchildren do. This is because, to reiterate, your stepchildren may not have inheritance rights per New York State estate law.
How else do I ensure remarriage protection in my estate plan?
There are a lot of individuals you must consider if you are part of a blended family. First, there is your new spouse and stepchildren. Then, your stepchildren may get married themselves. Eventually, your stepchildren may give you stepgrandchildren. With this, there are certain precautions you must make within your estate plan so that everyone gets what they are entitled to and what you desire for them.
Namely, you may set up a trust for your surviving spouse, in which the terms and conditions may block the funds from being used on the person they get married to or cohabitate with next. Plus, you may set up trusts for each of your surviving stepchildren and stepgrandchildren, so they are not vulnerable to being disinherited by your surviving spouse. Or, so they can shield these funds from creditors in a future divorce, lawsuit, or bankruptcy case. All the while, you may block your former spouse from attempting to claim any of these assets.
If you find yourself at a crossroads, please seek the sound advisement of a talented Putnam County estate planning attorney. Someone at the Law Office of Andres D. Gil, PLLC will stand by your side at a moment’s notice.