Five Estate Planning Considerations for Your Second Marriage

A second marriage brings some change, such as living in a different home and/or changing employment. With transitions, there is a common tendency to put off some important tasks for a later time.



One area of life that is often neglected, but no less vital, is the need to modify your beneficiary designations and will. If you are about to embark on a second marriage, here are five important considerations in relation to your estate planning.

Start Before the Marriage

Meet With a Lawyer

If you feel a little overwhelmed about how to combine your wills, that’s completely normal and understandable. It is a big step. You may find it difficult to know where to start. A great first step is to make an appointment with a local, estate planning lawyer, or one that specializes in that area.

One appointment will give you an opportunity to sit down with an expert and get their take on the matter. The issue of wills and beneficiaries can be an emotionally charged discussion at times. It doesn’t have to be, though. Your local lawyer will help you wade through all of the details, making it as stress-free as possible.

Second Marriage Differences

It’s important to remember the differences between the first marriage and second marriage in relation to wills. In a first marriage, both individuals generally have the same goals and agreed-upon plan to carry them out if either spouse were to pass away. Spouses in second marriages often have different assets and their own children from a previous marriage. There may end up being new children between the married couple as well.



Both spouses want to know that their biological children will receive a fair inheritance. Unfortunately, because of poor estate planning, this does not always happen. Coming up with specific plans with a lawyer will ensure that the desires of each spouse are carried out appropriately. As much as we would like to think that a verbal agreement is enough, this can often lead to one side of the family not getting the inheritance that they should have had.

Listed Beneficiary Over a Will

Many individuals going into a second marriage don’t realize an important fact. One of the most crucial things to understand is that listed beneficiaries hold more weight than a will. Many wrongly believe that it’s actually the other way around.

Understandably, this can result in a multitude of problems down the road. An updated will is not enough. Even if your will is updated, your estate and assets will go to whomever you have listed as your beneficiary if you don’t update that list.

Other Considerations

Something else to consider when getting remarried is a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. If you passed away after you remarry, your assets will go to your new spouse, and your children from your previous marriage may not ultimately get the assets you intended for them. A prenuptial agreement can ensure that both parties’ children are provided for regardless of which spouse passes first.

Overall, consider a trust. This is especially the case if you have children. If you have children from a previous marriage, your ex-spouse is likely to become their guardian when you pass away. If they are minors and your assets are intended to be given to them according to a will, your former spouse will gain control of those assets after you pass. A trust prevents the asset to be transferred to your ex-spouse and you can ensure that someone you trust is in charge of managing the assets for your children’s benefit until they reach an age at which they can responsibly manage the assets themselves.

Lastly, account for personal property. When it comes down to possessions in your home, the surviving spouse usually gets most of the items. If you have family heirlooms or other objects of sentimental value that you would like to leave to a specific family member, you need to specify that in your will.

Senior Marriages

When marrying later in life, you have to consider how to pay for long-term care and what happens if one spouse requires Medicaid benefits. Long-term care is often time expensive and the Illinois Department of Human Services will require that a spouse’s assets be taken into consideration even in the face of trust and prenuptial agreements when reviewing an application for Medicaid benefits. If one spouse refuses to make their assets available for the care of another, it can have a significant negative impact on Medicaid eligibility. This becomes difficult for later in life marriages when the need for Medicaid benefits to pay for long-term care is relatively foreseeable.



Many divorced or widowed elders receive Social Security from their former spouses, and remarriage can affect benefits. If you are divorced after at least 10 years of marriage, you can collect retirement benefits on your former spouse’s Social Security record if you are at least age 62 and if your former spouse is entitled to or receiving benefits. If you remarry, you generally cannot collect benefits on your former spouse’s record unless your later marriage ends. However, if you are a widow, widower or surviving divorced spouse who remarries after age 60, you are entitled to benefits on your prior deceased spouse’s Social Security earnings record.



It will take time and effort to make sure that your spouse and children are provided for appropriately in the event of your passing away. Having a skilled lawyer to help you with all of these nuances will go a long way towards success.

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