Trust and Estate Planning for Second Marriages

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Description

Second marriages pose a wide range of planning challenges.

Planning for the equitable distribution of property in "blended" families – children or grandchildren from a prior marriage, a second spouse, and perhaps children from the second marriage – is fraught with legal and emotional landmines well beyond customary tax planning.

Failure to carefully consider objectives and consequences and to communicate and execute plans can easily leave a client's estate exposed to open and raw disputes among competing heirs and eventually to destructive fiduciary litigation.

This program provides a guide to the practical, substantive and tax aspects of planning for clients with second marriages and blended families.

Emotional context of planning for remarried clients and blended families
Use of pre-marital agreements to spot contentious issues, align interests, and decrease post-mortem litigation
Income tax planning issues for the second marriage, including exemptions and credits
Use of trusts and gifting to prevent unjust enrichment of one branch of a blended family
Traps and opportunities with retirement benefits
Post-mortem planning techniques when the first spouse dies – and issues on the "second death"

Contributors

Michael Sneeringer

Michael Sneeringer an attorney in the Naples, Florida office of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP, where his practice focuses on trust and estate planning, probate administration, asset protection planning, and tax law. He has served as vice chair of the asset protection planning committee of the ABA's Real Property, Trust and Estate Section and is an official reporter of the Heckerling Institute. Mr. Sneeringer received his B.A. from Washington & Jefferson College, his J.D., cum laude, St. Thomas University School of Law, and his LL.M. from the University of Miami School of Law.

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Missia H. Vaselaney

Missia H. Vaselaney is a partner in the Cleveland office of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, LLP, where her practice focuses on estate planning for individuals and businesses. She also represents clients before federal and state taxing authorities. Ms. Vaselaney is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and has been a member of the Steering Committee for AICPA’s National Advanced Estate Planning Conference since 2001. Ms. Vaselaney received her B.A. from the University of Dayton and her J.D. from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Click here for more information about Missia.

Thank you

Description

Contributors

Michael Sneeringer

Missia H. Vaselaney