Navigating Complex Estate Planning Questions and Choices
You’re making decisions about family, money and your own unpredictable future—so it’s hardly surprising that a lot of complicated and touchy subjects...
4 min read
Stephen Sachetta
:
Nov 13, 2022
Once upon a time—when the legal code was being written—“family” was shorthand for a husband, his wife and their children. Estate planning could be pretty straightforward for this kind of nuclear family. When the first spouse died, the survivor would inherit everything, and then everything would be divided up among the kids when the second parent died. Even if the first spouse died with a will or any of the other standard documents on an estate planning checklist, the courts would generally default to awarding their property to their surviving spouse.
Many of today’s families don’t fit that mold. As of the 2020 census, 22 percent of parents living with kids were unmarried and 15 percent of parents were single parents. About 4.5 million family households included at least one non-relative. The number of Americans living in multigenerational families, which include at least two generations of adult relatives living together, has quadrupled since the 1970s. Millions of Americans have created blended families or extended families that include adult siblings, grandparents and close friends living together and sometimes raising children together.
Estate planning is critically important in non-traditional families. Without the appropriate estate planning protections in place, the courts may not recognize the rights of your loved ones to make decisions for you if you’re incapacitated or to inherit your assets after your death. And vice versa; you may be denied certain rights if members of your family are in the hospital or die. Here’s a look at some of the estate planning checklist items that you might need to discuss with your estate planning advisors.
The basic estate planning documents that most adults need include:
Estate planning checklist items for unmarried couples include:
Estate planning checklist items for blended and extended families include:
Estate planning checklist items for single parents include:
Other estate planning considerations for non-traditional families may include:
Sachetta, LLC meets every client exactly where they are. Whatever “non-traditional” looks like for you, we want to help you craft estate plans that serve your specific family’s specific needs. Don’t worry about ticking off items on a basic estate planning checklist; reach out to our estate planning advisors for guidance tailored to your life. Contact us today.
Stephen Sachetta CPA, MST is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Master’s Degree in Taxation. He has a diverse background of experience in the public accounting field over the past 40 years, ranging from the former Big 8 to being one of the founding partners of our firm. He specializes in the Restaurant and Food Service Industry and works with individuals and small businesses at developing them into flourishing companies while helping them to save tax dollars along the way.
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