Ensuring Assets I Inherited Are Passed To My Biological Children

km4hr

Recycles dryer sheets
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My wife and I have children from previous marriages. I will be inheriting some assets soon. I want them to go to my biological children when I die. Is there something I need to do to make sure that happens? If I die first will my wife inherit the assets or can I make sure my children get them?

I realize this is not a legal forum but I would like your thoughts.

I live in an an "equitable distribution state", if that has any relevance. Google seems to indicate that only applies in a divorce, which I'm not planning.

Thanks
 
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I think you need to see an experienced estate attorney in your state.

I would suggest seeing the attorney before you get the inheritance as well as I vaguely remember that you are not supposed to comingle inherited funds with the funds your spouse shares if you don't want them to have any "rights" to them. . . I could be 100% wrong. . . but it is why I suggest getting legal advice sooner rather than later.
 
Don't mix the inherited assets with your other married/joint assets.
If something like land, keep it in your name only. For money in your own account.

See a lawyer, as basically you will want a WILL to pass this stuff to your bio kids, and maybe you can think about what the other kids get. Depending on what the assets are, you may want to just inherit them and then give them to your kids before you die.
 
My wife and I have children from previous marriages. I will be inheriting some assets soon. I want them to go to my biological children when I die. Is there something I need to do to make sure that happens? If I die first will my wife inherit the assets or can I make sure my children get them?

I realize this is not a legal forum but I would like your thoughts.

I live in an an "equitable distribution state", if that has any relevance. Google seems to indicate that only applies in a divorce, which I'm not planning.

Thanks

My amateur opinion is that a living trust is the best way to pass the inherited assets to your biological children. Consult an estate attorney to set one up, then place the inherited assets into the trust and name your biological children as beneficiaries. You would be the trustee and would control the trust and file tax returns for assets in the trust. The trust can specify terms of asset distributions to your biological children as you wish. As other posters upstream mentioned, do not co-mingle your inherited assets with your marital assets before the living trust is set up.

You don't specify what kinds of assets you will be inheriting, but if they are brokerage or bank accounts, you can simply designate your biological children as beneficiaries on the accounts, so that the accounts are transferred to them upon your passing. In that case, you may not need a trust. But if the assets are non-financial (e.g. real estate, art works, gold, etc.), then a living trust would be the way to go.

By all means consult an estate attorney to explore your legal options and ensure that things are set up properly. When it comes to things like trusts and wills, it always pays to hire a pro to get the job done properly.

The other thing I recommend that you do is to have a frank discussion with your spouse to let her know that you're doing this and the reasons why. Otherwise, it might cause resentment and tension in your marriage.
 
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You do not say what assets you want to transfer...

There are many assets you can name your kids as beneficiaries... broker accounts etc.

You can transfer property with a title that includes them... not sure of the way it is to be titled but other do...

You can have a will...

I think the question is do you want your DW to have access to any of these assets after you die? IOW, she gets income etc for her life and then your kids?
 
Adding my "vote" for consulting a qualified attorney who specializes in this kind of stuff. Ask around.
 
My wife and I have children from previous marriages. I will be inheriting some assets soon. I want them to go to my biological children when I die. Is there something I need to do to make sure that happens? If I die first will my wife inherit the assets or can I make sure my children get them?

I realize this is not a legal forum but I would like your thoughts.

I live in an an "equitable distribution state", if that has any relevance. Google seems to indicate that only applies in a divorce, which I'm not planning.

Thanks
If the assets that you inherited that you want to pass to your biological children are financial accounts, just be sure to keep them separate from your marital assets and then just make your biological children your beneficiaries on those accounts. Those accounts l go directly to your biological children when you die.

If the assets don't allow beneficiary designations then you could put the assets in a living trust, make your children the successor co-trustees and beneficiaries after you die. The other benefit of the living trust is that if you wish to you can make your wife the beneficiary of the trust after you die but while she is still alive, for example have the income from the assets distributed to her, and then after she dies the assets are distributed to your biological children.
 
Situations like this crop up here often. The best answer (IMO) is always the same: get yourself to an estate attorney. Done right, you can ensure just about anything you want to take place after you pass.
 
Situations like this crop up here often. The best answer (IMO) is always the same: get yourself to an estate attorney. Done right, you can ensure just about anything you want to take place after you pass.
But it will likely cost you do to do so in most cases. Still, well worth it for a high priority.
 
But it will likely cost you do to do so in most cases. Still, well worth it for a high priority.
You get what you pay for. SGOTI isn't the best option when money is involved IMO. You can usually get an estate attorney to wrap it up for a grand or so.
 
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But it will likely cost you do to do so in most cases. Still, well worth it for a high priority.
But like the old Fram commercial, you can pay a little now or a lot later. A few hundred or a thousand dollars with an estate attorney now will ensure it is done correctly. Avoiding many thousands in costs later if not done correctly.
 
I think you need to see an experienced estate attorney in your state.
Yes. This is too important to trust a bunch of strangers on the internet.

I solved the problem by not getting married again. Everything is split evenly amount the children. Period.

Most single ( and some married) gals in my age group don’t want a husband anymore. They are happy with a boyfriend who knows when and how to keep his distance at appropriate times. Some just want a FWB relationship. Few want to tie the knot again, especially of children are involved.
 
Yes, consult an estate attorney. Ensuring the money isn't comingled is more complex than just keeping the money in your name. Another benefit of having each of your children inherit money in a trust is that it protects those assets from their spouses should they divorce. My father did this for his surviving children and the children of my deceased siblings. All three of my nieces have divorced and all of the inherited money was preserved in the trust. Their ex-husbands had no claim to those assets. If they had inherited the money outright and the funds had comingled, they could have taken half.
 
If you can't get a personal referral to an estate attorney, I believe if you contact your state Bar Association they can generate a list of estate attorneys specific to your locale. It'll be up to you to vet them, however.
 
You’ve been given good advice - to consult an attorney. You’re also doing well in that you’re asking this question before any money (or title to property) changes hands. My point is the timing. As has been mentioned, segregation of the assets is essential. You don’t want an event to happen that spoils your plan before you’ve had time to set up the framework. I worked in a professional environment and you’d be surprised how many times people came to the office asking for help after the fact. It’s near impossible to reverse a transaction and start over. Go see an attorney now.
 
My wife and I have children from previous marriages. I will be inheriting some assets soon. I want them to go to my biological children when I die. Is there something I need to do to make sure that happens? If I die first will my wife inherit the assets or can I make sure my children get them?

I realize this is not a legal forum but I would like your thoughts.

I live in an an "equitable distribution state", if that has any relevance. Google seems to indicate that only applies in a divorce, which I'm not planning.

Thanks
We have a living trust with sub-trusts for each child that ensure the inheritance goes to our children/grandchildren and not the in-laws. The point is to ensure as best as we can that the grandchildren are taking care of - rather than the in-laws spending our inheritance on frivolous things. An estate attorney can set this up quite easily.
 
If you can't get a personal referral to an estate attorney, I believe if you contact your state Bar Association they can generate a list of estate attorneys specific to your locale. It'll be up to you to vet them, however.
If you cannot get a personal referral, another place to look for lawyers is https://www.martindale.com/
 
Here's another recommendation to visit an established trusts and estate attorney.

I knew a work acquaintance whose mother passed away, and his father remarried late in life. The biological son was supposed to inherit his parents' home. The step mother passed away before the father, and somehow the house was left to the step mother's son (who, BTW was not raised by the father as it was a late in life marriage). Sometimes an elderly person is influenced to do something he/she may not have ordinarily wanted to do.
 
Put a revocable living trust in place, particularly if you live in a state with tough probate laws (our state, which is great in most financial areas, has horrible probate rules that appear to be designed just to enrich lawyers). They are not expensive and it will give you the chance to put all your wishes in place, not just this situation.
 
We set up our joint trust but also sub-trusts for sole and separate property. In my case, my sole and separate brokerage account will pass on to my son. The house which is held in the trust will go to the surviving spouse. I have 2 annuities, the one that is in payout phase will pay to my spouse and the other will go to my son.
 
You need professional advice. Not armchair advice or anecdotal stories than may have little or no relation to your situation or to the laws of your state.

Do it right.

Ask around and get the name of a good estate lawyer in your state. And perhaps a good tax accountant who is versed in these issues.
 
Put a revocable living trust in place, particularly if you live in a state with tough probate laws (our state, which is great in most financial areas, has horrible probate rules that appear to be designed just to enrich lawyers). They are not expensive and it will give you the chance to put all your wishes in place, not just this situation.
WADR I am pretty sure that you are not an experienced trusts & estates attorney, right? That is what the OP needs. See many other posts to that effect.
 
As others have said, get an Estate Attorney. I will add DO NOT HESITATE!
Some states, including mine (PA), if there is no will or trust, will follow their state law. This typically means it goes to the spouse. Then if she/he dies just 30 minutes later, it will go to the second to die spouse’s children, leaving your kids out of it altogether.
We chose to create a revocable trust. Later we chose to adopt each other’s adult child since we’re splitting everything evenly. But that is obviously not the OP’s desire.
 
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