Surviving Spouse Archives | Hollister Law Office

March 6, 2018 In Estate Planning

Estate Planning For Blended Families

Many of our clients have so-called “blended” families. In such a family, one or both spouses have children from a prior marriage. Each spouse often has an equally strong desire to provide for their spouse (should spouse survive them) as well as provide for their children from a prior marriage. As a result, practitioners frequently recommend the type of revocable living trust that creates a decedent’s trust upon the first spouse’s death. In most cases, this decedent’s trust will provide the surviving spouse with income and...

March 6, 2018 In Estate Planning

Unitrust conversion

Investment performance is measured, in large part, by total return on investment under modern portfolio theory. For most, not much thought is given to whether the return on investment is dividend/interest income or growth. However, the difference is critical when it comes to income-only trusts. A staple of estate planning for married couples involves the division assets between a survivor’s trust and a decedent’s trust after the first spouse’s death. Most decedent’s trusts grant the surviving spouse a right to all income from the decedent’s trust....