Most everyone benefits from taking the time for estate planning. For parents whose family includes a mix of stepkids and biological children, this task requires special attention.
No matter how harmoniously your family currently lives, how your estate divides upon your passing could create serious conflict in the future.
Avoiding conflict with proper planning
While your situation requires unique considerations, following a few best practices helps reduce the chances of fights occurring. First, you should consider the options you have, including setting up a trust or a will, to make your wishes clear.
No matter how you go about estate planning, you should approach the situation as thoughtfully as possible, taking special care in decisions such as who serves as your executor. If it makes sense in your situation, sharing the basic details of your plan with your family reduces the chances of anyone feeling shocked or surprised by your decisions.
Helping your family by clarifying decisions
Getting specific about details such as who should receive items of sentimental value further helps avoid any fighting between biological children and stepchildren. If you require outside opinions on how to go about dividing assets, consider getting help from someone impartial with no personal stake in the matter.
At the end of the day, by putting some time and thought into estate planning, you already help reduce the chances of conflict between children and stepchildren. All families have unique needs, and those with stepchildren can still go about dividing up an estate peacefully especially if the expectations have stayed clear from the start.
