Blended families require special care in estate planning.
Understatement.
Blended families require a lot of extra work and care.
Whether the blended family comes through divorce or death, more people means more potential for conflict.
Although your loved ones may get along at family gatherings, strife can arise in stressful situations.
According to a recent The Grand Forks Herald article titled “Joint power of attorney complicated this couple's wishes,” you must consider what will happen in a time of crisis. For example, what if you were to become incapacitated or injured.
It may be appealing to take the quick fix and name your adult children and your new spouse as agents for your health care and financial powers of attorney.
Rarely is it this simple.
Let us say your spouse informed your children of an injury you sustained.
After your surgery, you were released to a nursing home for recovery.
You children did not like this.
They had you moved back to the hospital thinking it better for your health.
Both have your best interests at heart, yet they believe differently on the means.
The result?
They are stressed and your blended family begins to tear itself apart.
Yikes!
For these reasons, it may be best to name one individual to make your decisions.
Another fix would be to speak with all parties together in advance about your wishes.
This way everyone is on the same page when a decision needs to be made.
Take the steps now to preserve your family rather than creating opportunity for division by default.
Reference: Grand Forks Herald (March 8, 2019) “Joint power of attorney complicated this couple's wishes”
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