It is not uncommon for people in Texas to get married for the second time either after a previous divorce or to the death of a first spouse. A second marriage can be a bright spot in a person’s life and provide hope for a positive future but it also raises new considerations when it comes to estate planning.
Fidelity Investments encourages partners to have open conversations with each other, ideally before they get married, about what they want to be able to provide to each other and to any children they have either separately or together. It is also important to review and be clear about what obligations each spouse may have to their prior spouses or to their children. These obligations may include spousal support, child support or being named as the beneficiary on life insurance or other policies.
CNBC recommends that each person provide a full accounting of all assets that they will bring into the new marriage. This includes retirements savings, other investments, homes, life insurance policies and more. Debts should also be part of this review and should include mortgages, personal loans, credit card debt, medical bills and more.
Anything that a person wishes to be left to their children should ideally not be first given to a spouse via a will, trust or the lack of any estate planning tool. This approach is too risky and leaves open the possibility that the children will get nothing or less than what their parent originally planned.