By Lei Jiang, Esq., Lei Jiang LLC.
If you remarry and have children from a first marriage, without a good plan — whether or not you have a will — your new spouse may end up with most of what you leave, and your children from your first marriage could get little or nothing.
A trust can avoid that outcome. You put property — such as your home and savings — into a trust and write down, in advance, who benefits first and who benefits afterward.
While your spouse is alive, the trustee uses the trust for your spouse: your spouse can keep living in the home, receive the trust’s income, and receive help with living costs as the trust directs. That support lasts for your spouse’s lifetime.
But your spouse does not own what is left over, and cannot change the ending. Your spouse cannot give the trust property away, leave it to someone else in a will, or redirect it to their own children. When your spouse dies, the trustee must distribute whatever remains to your children, as you directed.
That lifetime-only limit is the key, and the wording must be clear: the spouse’s benefit is for life, and no one may redirect the property to anyone else while the spouse is alive. In Ohio, the trustee must then administer the trust in good faith, following its terms and the beneficiaries’ interests. So choose a trustee you trust to follow your instructions, not someone with a conflicting interest.
The practical takeaway: only property actually placed in the trust is protected this way. After a remarriage, put the property in the trust and make the lifetime and remainder instructions explicit — do not rely on an old will alone.
Sources: Internal Revenue Code § 2056(b)(7); Ohio Rev. Code §§ 5804.02, 5808.01.
Questions? Contact us at info@leijianglaw.com or (440) 835-2271, or book a free 15-minute call: https://calendly.com/leijianglaw-info/15-minute-consultation
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice for your situation.