How do you decide who gets what?
Wills can often cause issues in families because you need to decide who gets what. And that’s where people have a different definition of ‘fairness’.
This is becoming more important. That’s because it's more common for people to have biological and stepchildren from different relationships.
#1 – Blended families make it harder to decide what’s ‘fair’
Blended families are one of the biggest reasons things go wrong. In fact, lawyers often warn that blended families are especially vulnerable.
Imagine this scenario:
David has three children from a previous relationship. He marries Alice, who had no children at the time. They went on to have two children together.
So there are 5 children in total.
Now, David and Alice have some assets. And those are relationship property. So they are effectively 50/50.
David and Alice are now planning their will. And it might seem simple.
David wants all the assets split among all 5 kids. So, each child gets a 20% share of the estate.
Alice loves David’s first 3 children. But, they already have a mother. So Alice wants her half to go to her 2 biological children, since those are her responsibility. That means the last 2 children each get 25% of the estate.
David is now in a bind. Does he split his half-share of the estate among all 5 children? Or does he split his share among his first 3 children?
On one hand, splitting his half equally means that the last 2 children get significantly more. But, if he only leaves his half to the first 3 children, maybe the last 2 will think: “Why didn’t Dad leave us anything?”
There’s no right or wrong answer to this situation. But it’s a good example of why you need to think about these things in advance.
#2 – What happens if you die, and your spouse remarries?
The other types of issues come up when one person brings more money into a relationship than the other.
Even if you have a prenup, your will is still where you decide what happens to those assets if you’re not around.
Here’s a simple example.
Let’s say you’ve spent years building a successful business. Then, you meet the love of your life. You get married and have kids. Then, you die earlier than expected.
Now, your will might leave the money to your spouse. And that’s what many people often want.
But what happens if your spouse remarries a few years later?
And what happens if they then get divorced and the new partner takes half the assets you built? Then the money has gone to someone you never knew instead of the children you were trying to protect.
Some people want to avoid that. So they might:
- Put the assets into a trust
- Have other independent trustees help manage that money
- Set things up so their partner gets ongoing support, rather than all the money at once
On paper, this can sound a bit harsh. In real life, it’s necessary to consider all of these factors … because it happens.
So, you do want to consider these factors when kids or large amounts of money are involved.
