On Wall Street published an article on the impact of remarriage on estate plans in “Estate planning mishaps: How even the family bible is at stake.”There are some often unforeseen ramifications of remarriage. Questions come up like, “Who gets the personal belongings of a deceased parent?” or “How do you prove title to personal property?“
There’s no title to a family heirloom such as grandpa’s pipe collection. A parent can say that specific items should go to a particular child, but it’s proving that they actually belonged to the parent (rather than a new spouse) that’s difficult. Situations like that prompt this rule of thumb: When a parent dies, first change the locks.