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When you think of marriage, you think that you’re only going to marry once in your life. For many, however, marriage is something that they go through twice or more times. If you’re a citizen in a country that allows divorce, remarriage can be quite normal. Second marriages are getting more prevalent in society.
While a remarriage can work as a second chance at love, there are certain complications that come along with it too. Importantly, there are financial concerns that come with getting married again. Therefore, second marriage estate planning should be on top of your list when you decide to remarry.
You should take care of the possible issues, before saying “I Do” the second time around. This is of paramount importance if you’ve amassed a lot of wealth in your past marriage and own quite a number of properties. The financial and legal issues are also important if you have children.
This article gives you insights on how you can efficiently manage and protect your properties when you’re on the road to marrying again. Have a look at the points below.
- Disclose Any Financial Issues That You May Have Faced In The Past
You know that trust is essential when you’re getting married again. Don’t start off your relationship on the wrong foot by lying to each other or hiding important information. So, for building trust with your new spouse, it’s crucial to disclose any information that he or she may want to know about.
To better manage your properties, include a proper disclosure of any financial issues and other considerations that you may have experienced or still be experiencing at the moment.
Some common examples of financial issues are:
- The number of retirement assets that you have
- Any credit card debt that you may still have
- The number of overall assets that you may have acquired
With this kind of disclosure, both of you know that, should anything happen to either of you, the one left behind won’t get an unpleasant surprise. Your new spouse shouldn’t have to face any legal complications or financial burden that you may be carrying from your previous marriage.
- Identify The Priorities That You’ll Have In This Marriage
Because you’re now marrying another person, it’s likely that your priorities in this marriage are going to be different. Just as you plan your wedding day, going into a new marriage also entails planning this new lifetime union. So, you also have to take the time to sit down together and identify all the financial goals that you’re going to have.
Doing this is very important so that you know that you’re headed in the same direction as your new spouse. The discussion will also help you to set your priorities right. You might have to sell a few assets or properties from your previous marriage. Will that be sufficient for both of you to start from the scratch? Or, will you need to bring in a few thousand dollars cash from your previous account to a new one now?
Going through this step can help you better set the tone for your marriage, and determine how your financial outlook might be in the near and far future.
- Have A Prenuptial Agreement
Don’t be shy about bringing up the possibility of a prenuptial agreement. A prenuptial agreement is that piece of document that’s going to set the limits as to what will constitute as separate assets of each spouse, and what are those that are going to be the conjugal property of this new marriage.
This document is of paramount importance, particularly when you’ve got many assets from your previous marriage. You’ll definitely want to protect these assets, simply because you may have children from your previous marriage or marriages. In such a situation, your children from that marriage may be the rightful heirs of those properties.
In crafting a prenuptial agreement, the most prudent advice that one can ever follow is to take the help of professionals. A lawyer and a financial advisor will assist both you and your new spouse in creating a solid prenuptial agreement. That way, assets owned by you and your spouse will be adequately protected. This can also help prevent any financial dispute, just in case, this remarriage ends up in another divorce.
- Put A Weight Of Importance On Estate Planning
Estate planning refers to deciding how your properties are going to be divided and distributed upon your death. This document goes way beyond your retirement plans. You must understand the important aspects of estate planning by consulting the experts. You never know when death is going to come, so it’s important to be prepared.
Along with your prenuptial agreement, an estate plan can also help smoothen out any legal difficulties with your properties that may arise in the event of your untimely demise. Moreover, multiple marriages and children may complicate your family relations significantly.
So, as you remarry, planning your will and estate matters is a vital and prudent step for you to take. Rather than going through this process all by yourself, it’s better that you have an estate planning or estate management lawyer on your side.
These are some of the important matters to be addressed as you go through estate planning:
- Whether or not your new spouse can be named as your trustee, executor or agent?
- Which of your assets you’ll hold jointly, or individually?
- Which rights of survivorship will you like to apply in this new marriage?
- Whether or not your spouse is to be named in your current home’s deed or mortgage?
- Which items should be bequeathed to specific children upon your death?
- Set Up A Trust
When you have minor children from your first marriage, one way to protect your assets from that marriage is by setting up a trust. In doing so, you’ll transfer some of your assets in your name, with your children as the beneficiaries. Such a trust will be beneficial for the future of your minor children. When these minor children grow up and become major, no one else can own these properties except as stated in the trust.
Takeaways
With these tips, now you can be more frank with your prospective spouse before tying the knot again. It’s important to resolve pre-existing financial issues as soon as possible, before the new marriage. A prenuptial agreement is a definite requirement to avoid future disputes. If you follow the tips in this article, you’re unlikely to encounter any financial problems or disputes after you remarry. It’s anyway vital that you enter the new marriage with a very clean slate. Start the remarriage as financial equals. That way, you can avoid falling into any financial or related relationship issues.
