How does remarriage affect inheritance?

The parent neither amends their current will or trust to include the new spouse, or alternatively, fails to create an Estate Plan all together. In either scenario, the new wife would be entitled to a significant portion of the Estate under California probate law.

How do you protect your assets when you remarry?

A bypass trust is a legal arrangement with terms that allow a married couple to avoid or “bypass” paying estate tax on some assets after one spouse’s death. This process is straightforward unless the surviving spouse remarries.

Does a surviving spouse inherit everything?

While many people assume surviving spouses automatically inherit everything, this is not the case in California. If your deceased spouse dies with a will, their share of community property and their separate property will be distributed according to the terms of that will, with some exceptions.

What happens to a family’s estate if a parent remarries?

Certainly, no child would want to deprive their parent of finding love later in life, but what is the risk to the family’s estate if that parent should remarry? Well, potentially huge. The children could lose their entire inheritance, as in the case of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson.

What happens if you die after remarrying without making a will?

This would mean that if you died after remarrying without making a new will – or without making a new will ‘in anticipation of’ your next marriage (ie before you did the deed) – what your child and step-children would get would be decided by the rules of intestacy rather than by you.

What happens to my assets when my husband dies?

Your spouse will also receive half the remainder of your assets (i.e. anything over £270,000). The other half of the residue passes outright to your children on your death. Peter is married to Lucy and this is his second marriage. Peter has two children from his previous marriage and Lucy has one child from her previous relationship.

Can a child recover inheritance from a parent with dementia?

If the parent was mentally competent at the time of the marriage, there is little the children can do to recover lost inheritance. However, if the parent is believed to have been suffering from some form of dementia, the children have a potential case of Financial Elder Abuse against the spouse of the deceased.