My second wife says her 2 kids should inherit our estate, but I also have 2 kids. Is that fair?

Quentin Fottrell

Tue, May 13, 2025, 12:17 AM 4 min read

I’ve been joined to my 2nd woman for 10 years. I volition permission the $1 cardinal inheritance I received from my parents to my biologic daughters. Everything other archetypal goes to my woman or, if she is not around, is divided evenly betwixt my stepkids and my biologic kids.

My woman said that, if I dice earlier her, she plans connected leaving everything — our remaining property — to her 2 children, who are my stepkids. She argues that my biologic kids volition already person received a large chunk that I americium passing down to them from my deceased parents. Is this fair?

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The Second Husband

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Your inheritance, your choice.

Your assemblage property, the surviving spouse’s choice.

A spouse’s inheritance is deemed abstracted property. So it is just to permission it to your ain biologic children, if that’s what you privation to do. Community oregon marital property, acquired during a marriage, goes to the surviving spouse. They tin bash immoderate they privation with it. Your woman has made her plans clear. If she dies earlier you do, however, her kids could person a problem, due to the fact that you program to divided the property 4 ways, reducing your stepkids’ inheritance.

So however your assemblage spot is divided volition beryllium connected who dies archetypal — unless of people you travel to an statement and determine to constitute a spot agreement. A qualified terminable involvement spot trust, oregon a QTIP trust, is not uncommon successful 2nd marriages. An A-B spot is different option: The “A” spot is revocable and holds the surviving spouse’s assets, portion the “B” spot is irrevocable and holds the deceased spouse’s assets.

For assets that don’t spell into a trust, you tin sanction your children arsenic beneficiaries oregon make transfer-on-death deeds. You should, however, debar putting their names straight connected the deeds to guarantee that they tin instrumentality vantage of the step-up successful basis, nether which they volition lone wage capital-gains taxation based connected the fair-market worth of the plus upon your death, alternatively than based connected the archetypal acquisition price. An advisor volition assistance you operation your spot oregon trusts. You tin besides usage life-insurance policies arsenic a mode to permission your children an inheritance.