Blended families
Protect both spouses and kids from prior marriages.
Blended families are estate planning's most common challenge. Florida's default rules (intestacy + elective share) often don't match what blended-family parents want. Without thoughtful planning, the most common outcome is: the surviving spouse inherits, then their kids inherit when they pass — and the deceased spouse's kids from a prior marriage can be left out entirely.
The standard solution is a QTIP trust (qualified terminable interest property) — your assets go into a trust at your death, your surviving spouse can use them for their lifetime, and at their death the assets pass to your kids (not their kids). It's a structure designed exactly for this situation, used for decades, and it works.
We've drafted these for couples in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, often with two prior marriages and four sets of kids between them. The conversation requires care — every blended family has its dynamics — but the legal answer is well-trodden.
What this means for you
- Florida's elective share gives your spouse the right to claim 30% of your estate regardless of what your will says. Planning has to account for it.
- Without a QTIP (or similar), assets you intend for your kids may end up with your spouse's kids if your spouse outlives you — even by a year.
- Prenups and postnups affect the plan. If you have one, we incorporate it. If you don't and you're considering one, the timing matters — generally before signing the trust.
- Stepchildren without legal adoption have no inheritance rights under intestacy. Specific provisions in the plan are required if you want to include them.
- Joint accounts with the surviving spouse pass automatically — including the assets a prior-marriage spouse expected to leave to their kids. Account titling matters as much as the trust language.
Recommended documents
Most situations route to one or two probate paths. Here are the most likely fits — read the detailed page on whichever feels closest, or use the consult to confirm.
What we watch for
Easy on people, tough on problems. These are the things that catch families off guard — we've seen them all and we plan around them.
- "Sweetheart" planning — leaving everything to the surviving spouse. Almost always backfires for blended families. The first spouse's kids often inherit nothing.
- Joint accounts with a current spouse holding pre-marriage assets. Once jointly titled, the asset passes to the spouse — even if you intended your kids to receive it. We re-title to the trust.
- Skipping the prenup conversation. If a prenup exists, our drafting must align with it. If one doesn't and your kids are concerned, sometimes one is worth doing.
- Adult children expecting communication they don't get. Blended-family plans often involve discussions with adult kids — not because they have a vote, but because trust requires transparency. We coach when these conversations make sense.
- Failing to update after the next life change. Blended families often have more variables — new grandchildren, divorces among adult kids, financial reversals. Reviews every 2–3 years.
Questions families ask us
Blended families deserve plans designed for them — not the standard "everything to the surviving spouse" template that fits maybe 20% of households. Every family is different, and every plan we draft for blended families is custom. Easy on people, tough on the structural problems that default rules create.