Why Is It So Hard to Counsel Blended Families?
Blended families present seven principal challenges. Of these, the presence of unresolved emotional issues and the existence of multiple sets of children create the most likely barriers to a successful outcome—a finalized plan that reaches the parties’ desired dispositive goals without unnecessary tears. Any of the seven issues listed in what follows, however, can enflame emotions and threaten to disrupt the process. Estate taxes present a special concern. To avoid unintended and inequitable results, for taxable estates, an estate planner must attend to how the estate will pay any taxes and the manner in which several sets of beneficiaries and different types of assets will share the tax burden. If the documents do not adequately address this issue, one set of beneficiaries may enjoy an inheritance undiminished by estate taxes,while another set of beneficiaries may see its inheritance reduced or eliminated. The second set of beneficiaries may, in essence, pay the estate tax on the firs
