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June 2024
603-894-4141 | 978-969-0331 | LegacyCareLaw.com
Don’t Let the Brady Bunch Run Wild: Planning for Blended Families Why Your Unique Family Requires a Customized Estate Plan
The term “blended families” encompasses a diverse range of family dynamics, of which the classic “Brady Bunch” scenario is just one example. Many important factors are involved, including prior marriages for each spouse, the cause of the end of a previous marriage, children from those marriages, the residence of prior children, the relative wealth of spouses, and more. However, despite the specific circumstances, blending families presents unique challenges in estate planning and inheritance arrangements. I’ve been helping families navigate this process since 1998, and I’ve seen firsthand the intricacies of securing a family’s future, mainly when it includes children from different relationships. Having a family that includes children from previous relationships can make things more complex because of competing interests or concerns about how some choices might be perceived. Clients often come to me burdened by stories they have heard about spouses unintentionally disinheriting children from previous marriages or assets becoming entangled following a remarriage. These are not mere stories but real concerns that must be addressed with empathy, compassion, and a comprehensive understanding of estate planning and the law. While proper legal documents are important to addressing blended family issues, solutions can only be reached by professionals who seek to understand the emotional impact, not just the legal impact, of these problematic issues. Left unaddressed, the tensions within
blended families can powerfully influence how family members perceive and receive estate plans. As an estate planning attorney, my role often extends beyond legal advising; at times, I am a mediator who must understand the emotional undercurrents of various issues and navigate them with empathy. In blended family situations, clients are often concerned with ensuring their children from previous relationships are not unintentionally disinherited. This is a legitimate worry but can be prevented with the right estate planning tools. By preparing the proper estate plan, which often includes carefully drafted trusts, we can safeguard your children’s inheritance, irrespective of future changes in your marital status. In estate planning for blended families, a range of legal tools are utilized to address the unique dynamics and concerns that arise. By employing these legal tools thoughtfully and strategically, estate planning for blended families can effectively address complex family dynamics and provide peace of mind for all involved parties. Every family is unique, and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for estate planning in blended families. What works for one family may not work for another. That’s why a customized estate plan tailored to your specific family situation is essential. My role is to listen, understand, and craft a plan that aligns with your wishes, ensuring all family members are considered and protected even as families change over time. If you’re navigating the complexities of a blended family, please contact us. Whether you’re a current client with evolving family dynamics or someone considering estate planning for the first time, a consultation or a review of your current plan can be invaluable and set you on the right path. Together, we can create a plan to protect and provide for your unique family situation, ensuring your family is protected and cared for. Remember, it’s not just about drafting documents; it’s about securing your family’s future with care and foresight.
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HERO HUSKY SAVES THE NEIGHBORHOOD
On Dec. 15, 2023, pet owner Chanell Bell of Philadelphia was taken aback when she noticed that Kobe, her 4-year-old miniature Alaskan husky, had dug a hole in her home’s front yard. This was a stark departure from Kobe’s usual behavior, which Bell initially dismissed as boredom and promptly refilled the hole. However, when Kobe began to dig again in the same spot, Chanell realized something was amiss. “We’ve been here at our home for a while now, and he never digs holes,” Bell told USA Today. “So, I knew something was up.” She investigated further, reviewing footage from the family home’s security camera overlooking Kobe’s newfound digspot. Then, she witnessed Kobe sniff the air around the area before digging the hole in the same spot again.
Thinking something Kobe smelled must have alarmed him, Bell phoned Philadelphia Gas Works, which sent a crew out to investigate. The engineers discovered that the gas lines beneath the Bell household were old, dilapidated, and beginning to leak. After fixing the issue, the company told Bell that if Kobe had not discovered the leak, the line would have posed significant health and safety concerns for the whole neighborhood. “They told me something as simple as a light switch turning on could’ve caused an explosion,” Bell told USA Today. After Bell shared Kobe’s story on social media, it caught the attention of PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who awarded the young husky the Heroic Dog Award. Inspired by Kobe’s efforts, Bell wrote a children’s book dedicated to him called “The Dog That Saved the Block Before Christmas.”
Maximize Your Legacy With a Living Trust A Pathway to Financial Security and Peace
Estate planning empowers individuals to maintain control over their legacy and provide for their families, offering peace of mind and a sense of security for the future. It ensures you control how you want your assets handled during your lifetime and after you pass. A revocable living trust is one of the most influential aspects of an estate plan. If you do not already have an estate plan, it’s time to create one, as it is never too early to start! A trust is like a bucket — you can put property into it and control everything while you are still alive. A trust involves three important
players: the grantor, the trustee, and the beneficiary. The grantor creates the trust, the trustee controls everything inside the trust, and the beneficiaries will receive allocations from the trust according to the wishes of the grantor (you). As the grantor and living trustee, you have control over everything you put into the trust, such as your home, cars, household items, life insurance policies, etc. After you pass away, the trust still exists, but the person you named as the successor trustee will control and distribute its contents to the beneficiaries you specify. Probate is a timely and costly public process no one wants; however, by establishing a trust, you can avoid it entirely and keep your affairs private. Start by creating a will and then, with the help of a properly trained attorney, transition to creating a trust. An attorney can ensure you fund the trust correctly, retitling property and other assets so the trust (and you, as the grantor and trustee) owns them. This is a crucial part of creating a trust: You must fund it, which is a separate process. Because a trust allows you to bypass probate, your heirs will enjoy an efficient, private, and straightforward path to honoring your wishes instead of slogging through a lengthy and potentially contentious probate process while grieving. It’s one of the most generous and magnanimous gifts you can give them — and the best way to secure your wealth for the next generation.
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A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO EAT ALONE DINING SOLO
Did you know that a little over a century ago, women could not eat alone in restaurants? If they did, people would assume the woman was, let’s say, “looking for work,” and she would be disgraced, and so would the restaurant. So, women who wanted to dine alone or with other women would be turned away. Women needed to be accompanied by a man to eat out in public. How did this finally change? After being denied a ticket to a dinner event because of her gender, a journalist named Jane Cunningham Croly took action. Croly was an English- born American journalist who wrote and advocated for equal rights and economic independence for women. Croly also founded and was the first president of the Women’s Press Club of New York.
One of Croly’s biggest advocacy groups was a women’s dinner club named Sororis. The women of Sororis held their first official meeting in April 1868 at a New York restaurant called Delmonico’s to protest the ban on women’s solo dining. They demanded service, and Delmonico’s agreed, making it the first establishment in U.S. history to allow women to dine without a male chaperone. When World War I began, more women entered the workforce, earning them increased independence. New restaurants and lunch counters started to open that would serve working women, and gradually, dining without a man became commonplace. Progress was slow, though; even as recently as 1970, some restaurants still barred solo women from entering. Thankfully, in today’s society, this would never fly!
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9 Red Roof Lane, Salem, NH 03079 603-894-4141 978-969-0331 LegacyCareLaw.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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Safeguarding Your Loved Ones in a Blended Family
How a Pet Husky Prevented Disaster
Using a Trust for Wealth Preservation
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Summer Chicken Salad
The History Behind Women Eating Alone in Restaurants
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Steiner’s Emotional Road to Olympic Glory
Olympian Steiner Overcame Adversity to Win Gold FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH
In June 2007, just one year before the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, an SUV traveling on the wrong side of the road hit 22-year- old Susann Steiner — wife of German Olympic weightlifter Matthias Steiner — while she was driving. She was rushed to the hospital, and it was there that Matthias promised her he would win a gold medal in her honor. Tragically, Susann died as a result of her injuries, but Matthias’ promise to his late love lived on. Wanting to make his wife proud, Matthias trained harder than ever before. He had been lifting weights since he was just a teenager, and though he had won medals and championships before, he had never claimed the ultimate prize: an Olympic medal. Matthias also had to compete in the super heavyweight category against the strongest weightlifters in the world. Among his competitors were the formidable Russian
Evgeny Chigishev, an Olympic veteran and champion, and the Latvian Viktors Scerbaiths, who won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. “Weightlifting is a sport without mercy [and] it is very tough to make progress,” Matthias said in an interview with the Olympic Channel. “Every time you touch the bar, you realize that you are always alone in weightlifting, the weights are getting heavier and heavier, everything hurts.” But Matthias was not alone. His memory and dedication to Susann inspired him to attain strength he never imagined possible. As it turned out, he needed every ounce of his strength to claim victory. The competition was incredibly close. Matthias’ victory was not secure until the last lift; he needed to clean and jerk an astounding 569 pounds — more than he had ever lifted before — to fulfill his promise.
Photo: Dacoucou
Incredibly, he succeeded. He edged out Chigishev by 1 kilogram, winning the gold medal with a score of 461 against Chigishev’s 460. After he had completed his lift, he fell to his knees in tears. At the podium, he held his gold medal and a bouquet of roses in his right hand and clutched a picture of Susann in his left. Matthias honored Susann’s memory with his gold medal victory, exactly as he promised.
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