With remarriage comes a new life — new family, customs, and schedules — which can mean big changes to your financial situation. Maria Eichelberger, Vice President and Wealth Advisor for Regions Private Wealth Management in Tampa, Fla., offers tips to protect your wealth when you are planning to remarry.
- Set goals with your soon-to-be spouse: Your views on how to handle finances may differ from your partner’s. Discuss key values, such as credit, debt, and budgeting, to help identify and align overall financial goals and priorities.
- Title your assets appropriately: Should you title your family inheritance as a separate asset or are you comfortable with it becoming a joint one? Consult with an advisor before you remarry to decide how you will need to title your assets effectively, considering any tax consequences or liabilities attached to certain assets that will result from a remarriage.
- Consider setting up a trust: A trust is an effective tool to direct how you want to manage your assets and pass them to your beneficiaries so that your financial affairs are handled according to your wishes during your lifetime and after you pass away.
- Update your will: Before you remarry, review your will and consider whether any changes will need to be made before or after you marry in order to carry out your financial and personal wishes, especially when it comes to protecting the wealth of your children. Once you remarry, check your will every three to five years for any changes to your beneficiaries or your assets.
- Review your retirement plan: A new marriage can complicate your retirement plan — affecting your employment status, standard of living, and acceleration or timing of asset availability. Review your retirement plan before you remarry, and then adjust accordingly, attuning it to your needs and the needs of your children.
- Consider a prenuptial agreement: A prenuptial agreement establishes how your assets will be protected and divided in the event of a death or divorce. Addressing these financial concerns upfront can prevent problems later on.
