Getting married for the second time is rather common, but it does present some complications as it relates to estate planning. You’ll want to take specific steps as you remarry to protect your heirs when you add a new spouse and additional family members into the mix.
Nevada is a community property state. Any assets or property that you acquire during your marriage automatically become both of yours, no matter whose name you title it in or who purchases it.
Any separate bank accounts or properties that you came into the marriage with will remain yours alone as long as you and your new spouse don’t commingle your funds or use one another’s money to pay for its upkeep. If you do, then they’ll convert to joint assets.
Why does the commingling of assets matter when estate planning?
If you were to pre-decease your new spouse without a will or trust in place detailing what happens with your property or assets, then you’d leave the kids from your first marriage vulnerable to not receiving an inheritance.
Your newly minted husband or wife would likely gain full discretion to decide what becomes of your assets if you were no longer in the picture and had no will or trust in place.
Before you embark upon setting up the trust, you will need to think critically about how you want to handle your residence. It is common for spouses to have the home placed into a trust. You will need to spell out in the trust documents how long they can continue living there once you’re gone. The choice you make can affect how long it takes for your heirs to gain access to property that you set aside for them.
Why you need to speak with an estate planning attorney
Many individuals who remarry for the second time come into those marriages with kids or property. You can do yourself a disservice if you fail to plan for your heir’s futures, especially if you pre-decease your spouse. You may unnecessarily burden your new Las Vegas husband or wife if you fail to update your health care proxy, power of attorney, will and beneficiary forms to reflect your change in marital status.
An estate planning attorney can help you update your Nevada legal documents and go over asset protection options you may want to consider to protect you and your heirs.