Resource Center

If you've got a life partner but no marriage certificate, estate planning is a must. Without it, neither of you will inherit from each other—and neither of you will have a say in the other's end-of-life medical care. If you die without a valid will, state law will dictate where your solely owned property goes after your death, and it won't go to an unmarried partner. Instead, if you have no children, your closest relatives, including your parents, would inherit.

According to one estimate, about a quarter of all marriages and nearly two-thirds (63%) of remarriages involve stepchildren. No matter how loving and successful, such arrangements often pose unique personal and financial challenges that may only intensify as wealth transfers from one generation to the next. For these reasons, careful estate planning, while highly recommended for any family, is especially vital for blended ones.

If you aren’t married and have no children, you may think you don’t need an estate plan. But nothing could be further from the truth. Unlike with married couples, there could be no specific person who can legally make medical decisions for you should you become incapacitated. And if you were to die without an estate plan, your property would likely go through the probate process and potentially be awarded to a beneficiary you never would have chosen yourself.

Blended families are incredibly common, and this term encompasses a vast array of family situations. Very often, however, blended families involve a marriage in which one or both spouses have children from a prior relationship. Sometimes the couple also has children in common, but this is not always the case. Because families are all different and the term blended family can mean so many things, the standard estate planning documents may not be enough to satisfy your plann

Are you and your spouse in relative good health today and able to manage if the other one needed caregiving assistance? If your health took a turn, do you want to age in place, or is it possible that one of your children would want you to live closer by? Talk it through with your spouse and your kids so that everyone understand your wishes.