A Basic Estate Plan for Blended Families uses three separate documents to manage your estate:  1) a last will and testament is used to direct distribution of marital property for each spouse; and 2) a separate revocable trust for each spouse is used is used to manage assets for their respective children until they reach an age specified by the parent.  The purpose of this arrangement is allow each parent to appoint a trustee to manage certain assets only for their children.  This ensures that the children of each spouse are protected regardless of any other events that may occur following their death.

The fees for this plan are less than our Living Trust Plan for Children.  However, probate is required to administer the last will and testament.  Therefore, the overall cost of administration is somewhat higher.  The other documents that are part of this plan may be used without probate. 

These documents are included with a Basic Estate Plan for Blended Families:

• Last will & testament
• Separate revocable trust for the children of each spouse
• All documents needed by the trustee to administer each child's trust (trustee instructions, acceptance of trust, certificate of trust, notice to beneficiaries, and notice to creditors)
• Power of attorney
• Healthcare directive
• Appointment of guardian
• Appointment of funeral representative
• Estate planning roadmap

Separate trusts for the children of each spouse has several benefits over other methods:

• Provides a low-cost solution to managing property for children
• Simplifies designation of beneficiaries for life insurance and retirement accounts
• Simplifies management of property for the children by a trustee
• Allows each parent to appoint a trustee who will manage and distribute property solely for the benefit of their children

A Basic Estate Plan for Children is suitable for a married couple who -- 

• Have children from previous relationships 
• Do not desire to avoid probate
• Desire to set aside assets (e.g. life insurance or retirement accounts) solely for their children
• Need a complete estate plan for children at a lower cost than our Living Trust Plan for Blended Familes

A Basic Estate Plan for Children is designed to provide these benefits (which may vary in each case):

• Reduce upfront planning costs
• Maximize tax deferral for retirement accounts (401k or IRA) passed to children
• Simplify designation of beneficiaries for life insurance and retirement accounts
• Simplify management of assets for children by a trustee
• Coordinate assets to work with estate planning documents for maximum benefit
• Designate any number of beneficiaries, and the age at which they will receive property
• Designate personal property to be given to specific persons
• Provide care and support for each spouse's children
• Protect property from waste by beneficiaries
• Protect property from beneficiaries' creditors
• Disinherit specific persons
• Manage property for persons under disability or with substance abuse problems
• Appoint an executor to handle probate proceedings
• Appoint a trustee to manage property for beneficiaries
• Appoint an agent under power of attorney to make financial decisions, and handle digital assets
• Appoint a patient advocate to make medical decisions, including withdrawal of life support
• Appoint a guardian to care for minor or adult children
• Appoint a funeral representative to carry out your funeral and burial instructions
• Prevent family disputes

We provide the following services with this plan:

• Consultation to create your plan
• Custom document drafting
• Consultation to review documents
• Witness and notarize documents
• Document binding
• Scan documents to flash drive
• Delivery of original documents and copy on flash drive
• Follow-up consultations as necessary to implement plan