The news that Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, now 73, was awaiting the arrival of his eighth child may have led to any number of bad jokes, but he’s far from alone. Financial planners report that having a baby later in life is becoming less unusual than in the past. CNBC’s recent article, “Jagger’s changing diapers at 72. How to manage that,” notes that remarriages often result in new children.
Similarly, Jagger’s band mate Ronnie Wood, 69, and his wife welcomed twins in May of last year, and Billy Joel at age 66 became a dad in 2015 for the second time. Becoming a parent later in life brings its own set of unique issues. Preparation is critical if you’re going to juggle both day care and retirement.
The first issue to consider is guardianship, especially how you’d like your child to be raised if you pass away or become incapacitated. In this situation, a child’s older sibling may be a good choice as guardian.
Read MoreSecond Marriage and Blended Families Add Complexity to Estate Planning
It’s a delicate balance to hold: preserving assets for children from a first marriage and—at the same time—ensuring that your new spouse will have the assets needed to maintain his or her life in comfort. Balancing the two often requires coming to terms with realistic expectations for all.
CNBC’s article, “Getting remarried? Protect your assets and your interests,” recommends looking ahead and addressing questions about your goals, how your existing family and new spouse will relate to one another when you’re gone and who will be in charge of the money. The big issue that heirs of a remarrying couple need to worry about more than federal estate tax is the new spouse.
The reason for this is that every state except Georgia gives rights to a spouse to make an elective share against a decedent spouse’s estate or have the right to community property. That means that a portion of an estate could go to the new spouse even if the decedent’s will disinherits him or her. Unless you expressly exclude your new spouse from your will, he or she typically has an intestate right against the probate estate.
Read MoreWedding Season: The Impact of Marriage, Divorce & Re-marriage
As we head into wedding season, we’ll be taking a look at the impact of marriage, divorce and re-marriage on estate plans. As many of you may know, any change in your marital status impacts your estate plan.
If you’re marrying for the first time, you’ll need to ensure your estate plan will take care of a surviving spouse and makes the most efficient use of the tax planning benefits of a marriage. If you’ve recently divorced, you’ll want to ensure your estate planning—and especially asset ownership—are in line with not just your divorce decree, but also an updated estate plan. And for those re-marrying, you may have children from a previous marriage to care for and there can be many ways to handle that in an estate plan.
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