Published on: 3rd January 2022

Case Study: A Blended Family

Our clients Mr & Mrs Robinson (not their real names) recently had a telephone consultation with one of our Consultants. Mr & Mrs Robinson are in their mid-fifties and married each other three years ago. They were both married previously with each first marriage ending in divorce. Mr Robinson has three children from his first marriage. Mrs Robinson has two children from her first marriage. Since getting married, they have lived in Mrs Robinson’s family home. This property is owned by Mrs Robinson solely. Mr Robinson’s property is being rented to provide additional income for the couple. This property is in Mr Robinson’s sole name.

Like many families, the Robinsons wanted their assets to pass to each other so that the surviving spouse had income and a place to live and then subsequently to pass to “their” respective children. Unfortunately, a standard Will does not guarantee that this distribution will occur. A surviving spouse could get remarried and distribute some or all of their assets to their new spouse. Alternatively, they could rewrite their Will to include only “their” biological children. This worried the Robinsons and they asked if there were options to mitigate these risks.

Our Consultant provided a bespoke estate plan which included the following:

• A trust within Mrs Robinson’s Will which would give Mr Robinson the absolute right to remain living in the house if she were to pass away first. The property would then be passed to Mrs Robinson’s biological children when Mr Robinson passed away.
• A trust within Mr Robinson’s Will which would give Mrs Robinson access to the rental income from his property for the remainder of her life. The property would then be passed to Mr Robinson’s biological children when Mrs Robinson passed away.
• A trust in each Will so that income from cash and investments of the first to pass away went to the survivor but the capital was protected for the biological children of the first to die which they will receive when the survivor passes away.
• Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) with attorneys from both sides of the family to ensure thoughtful and informed decisions are made if and when required.

This estate plan gave both Mr & Mrs Robinson the peace of mind that their estate would distribute how they wanted but still allowed the surviving spouse to receive benefits from their respective properties. This plan allowed their children to be happy knowing that their inheritance will not be at risk as it would have been without these new Wills. We have already received contact from Mr & Mrs Robinson to advise us how the family is now a closer unit because the children are less concerned about being disinherited.

Not all blended families wish to proceed with this type of estate planning. Some wish to distribute to all children and stepchildren equally whilst some leave everything to their new spouse. At Casey & Associates, we are able to provide bespoke services for all of our clients such as Mr & Mrs Robinson. If you would like a no-obligation appointment to discuss your personal estate planning needs, please call our client services team on 01732 868190 or by clicking here.

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Our Covid-19 policy is now that if you wish to give instructions or require general information about our Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, or Trusts then we will carry out a telephone or Zoom appointment. However, if you wish to give instructions to one of our Consultants and you feel that you can only do this at a Face to Face meeting we are offering, at our Consultant’s discretion, a limited number of Face to Face appointments in most of the areas we normally cover (subject to Government advice). To see the areas we normally cover please click here. To arrange an appointment please telephone 01732 868190 or click here.

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