{"id":201,"date":"2022-03-26T10:58:32","date_gmt":"2022-03-26T10:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/?p=201"},"modified":"2023-10-17T11:29:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T11:29:11","slug":"second-marriages-estate-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/blog\/second-marriages-estate-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Marriages &#038; Estate Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re getting remarried in Ohio, you may have gone through divorce proceedings, during which your marital assets were divided according to the state\u2019s principle of \u201cequitable distribution.\u201d Your new spouse \u2013 and your new life \u2013 will require you to revisit your estate planning.<\/p>\n<p>If you own a home, do you want your new spouse to join you on the title? Or, do you want to leave it in a will or trust to your children? If you\u2019re planning to have more children with your new spouse, how will they figure into your beneficiary plans?<\/p>\n<p>A second marriage presents many questions and challenges when it comes to estate planning and providing for your loved ones when you\u2019re gone. Having children and accumulated assets from more than one marriage can significantly complicate your planning.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re entering into a second marriage in or around Westerville, Ohio, contact The Law Office of David G. Bale to discuss your situation and create an estate plan that fulfills all your wishes for you and your loved ones. The firm also proudly serves clients in the neighboring communities of Worthington, New Albany, and throughout Delaware County and Franklin County.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rights_of_the_Surviving_Spouse_in_Ohio\"><\/span>Rights of the Surviving Spouse in Ohio<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/blog\/second-marriages-estate-planning\/#Rights_of_the_Surviving_Spouse_in_Ohio\" title=\"Rights of the Surviving Spouse in Ohio\">Rights of the Surviving Spouse in Ohio<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/blog\/second-marriages-estate-planning\/#Second_Marriage_Estate_Planning_Considerations\" title=\"Second Marriage Estate Planning Considerations\">Second Marriage Estate Planning Considerations<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/blog\/second-marriages-estate-planning\/#When_Remarrying_Consult_With_Your_Estate_Planning_Attorney\" title=\"When Remarrying, Consult With Your Estate Planning Attorney\">When Remarrying, Consult With Your Estate Planning Attorney<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>A surviving spouse cannot be written out of a will in Ohio. If Spouse A leaves his or her residence to his or her children through a last will and testament, the surviving spouse has five months to challenge the will. So, if the children decide to sell the property, the surviving spouse can be entitled to a share of the profits.<\/p>\n<p>If Spouse A leaves a will and writes out Spouse B, then Spouse B can challenge the will, which is called \u201cto take against the will.\u201d If there are fewer than two children or surviving lineal descendants of Spouse A, Spouse B will then be entitled to one-half of the net estate. If there are two or more surviving children, the share will be one-third.<\/p>\n<p>It gets even more complicated if Spouse A dies without a will, which is called dying intestate. In that case, Spouse B will get the whole estate if there are no children from a previous marriage. If there are children from the same marriage to Spouse A and no other children, Spouse B gets the entire estate.<\/p>\n<p>If there is one child from a previous marriage for Spouse A who has not been adopted, then the first $20,000 of the estate and half of the remaining value goes to Spouse B. It gets even more complicated if there is more than one child of Spouse A\u2019s previous marriage who has not been adopted. In that case, the first $20,000 and one-third of the remaining estate go to Spouse B.<\/p>\n<p>A way around the will provision and intestate laws is to set up a living trust and name a trustee to manage your estate when you\u2019re gone. In that case, there will be no probate court to supervise the distribution of assets, but challenges to assets in a trust are still possible.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Second_Marriage_Estate_Planning_Considerations\"><\/span>Second Marriage Estate Planning Considerations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In a second marriage where both partners have children, either together, from a previous relationship, or both, the two spouses must decide upon how their assets will be distributed. This can be complicated when one spouse brings significant assets to the marriage and the other does not. In this case, you may want to consider a prenuptial agreement before tying the knot.<\/p>\n<p>Before remarrying, you may also opt to place your assets in a trust and name your beneficiaries to be administered by a successor trustee when you\u2019re either incapacitated or deceased. If you have a will, you will certainly want to update it, but you should confer with a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/practice-areas\/estate-planning\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">knowledgeable estate planning attorney<\/a>\u00a0on the best route to take. Living trusts avoid probate proceedings, which can save both time and money.<\/p>\n<p>If you own real estate in your own name, you might think it\u2019s a good idea to add your new spouse as a joint tenant with the right of survivorship. If you do, however, that means your surviving spouse will inherit the estate and do with it as they will despite what you specify in a will or trust.<\/p>\n<p>This brings up another important consideration; you need to review and update the beneficiaries named on your retirement plans and life insurance policies. Beneficiaries to a 401(k), IRA, or life insurance policy get the funds outright without any recourse to probate court or trust management. If your previous spouse is so named, proceeds will go to that person.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_Remarrying_Consult_With_Your_Estate_Planning_Attorney\"><\/span>When Remarrying, Consult With Your Estate Planning Attorney<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019ve lost a spouse through divorce or death and you\u2019re remarrying, it\u2019s not only a chance to start a new life and fulfill your dreams, but it\u2019s also a time to revisit \u2013 or commence \u2013 your estate planning. David Bale will meet with you, discuss your unique situation, and present you with the best options for giving you and your loved ones peace of mind going forward.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re in or around Westerville, Ohio, contact him at The Law Office of David G. Bale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re getting remarried in Ohio, you may have gone through divorce proceedings, during which your marital assets were divided according to the state\u2019s principle of \u201cequitable distribution.\u201d Your new spouse \u2013 and your new life \u2013 will require you to revisit your estate planning. If you own a home, do you want your new [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224,"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions\/224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balelaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}