How you can give inheritance to your children from your first marriage?

Posted by leo on October 20th, 2018

Love happens at any point in life. Often, we see people breaking their first marriage and marry someone else and maybe someone after that. Sometimes, couples come to a mutual conclusion and both get separated only to marry another person. That brings us to one problem. How do the children inherit their wealth after they die? Because, if they have children from their second marriage things could go a little difficult for the children from their first marriage. After all, parents don’t abandon their children after breaking from a marriage.

But it is important to know that the spouses can leave their assets to anybody. What prominently happens in these cases is called as an elective share. When a spouse dies, the surviving spouse has the ability to claim a third of the estate. But this must be acted upon promptly. The surviving spouse must ensure the legal documents are filed within six months of the partner’s decease. The documents must be submitted to the Superior Court in order to legally get the work done.

There are a lot of instances when individuals give their share of money to their spouses from the first marriage. But even before they break their marriage, they decide to give inheritance to their children. Because, if one of the spouses die early, the children have to be tended. When a couple breaks up, they ensure that a part of their share is going to the surviving spouse. And when the surviving spouse dies, the share goes to their children. This is often termed as QTIP which is short for Qualified Terminable Interest Property.

The QTIP trust is something that ensures that the estates are preserved after marital breakups. But it doesn’t get handed over to the children just like that. There are ways to send it to your children. One way is to enter a postnuptial agreement. Here, the spouse declares that the assets must go to the children on the death of the spouse. This is one way of doing it. The other way is where the spouse says that the other spouse receives one-third of the wealth while the remaining should be sent to their children.

They also have the authority to make their children the designates for the insurance policies after their death. The lives of the children can be crucial after the marriage breaks up. Even if they are under the care of a step-dad or a step-mom, the death of their biological parents could affect their sustainability. Hence, it is wiser to ensure they are safe even after the couple takes their own paths of destiny.

It is a sensible act to look at the situation of the children after they part ways. If not done properly, the children will not benefit from your inheritance. This could prove crucial for them. It is better to talk with an estate planning attorney before going ahead with the agreements. This would give a better picture and idea. Some of the best attorneys are in the Florida state.