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Estate Planning for Blended Families in Oregon and Washington

by | Apr 10, 2025 | Blogs By Josi R. Howard, Estate Planning

Blended family of four smiling on couch, representing the importance of estate planning for blended families in Washington and Oregon

Why Estate Planning for Blended Families is Critical

Estate planning, while important for every family, is crucial for blended families. Blended families are families that include children from a previous relationship of one spouse or both. Coming up with an equitable estate plan that takes into account the unique considerations of blended families is key to avoiding fights among members of the decedent’s family. Spouses in a blended family who die without a plan in place are at risk of unintentionally cutting out their children from inheriting their assets. When one or both spouses have children from previous relationships, questions about how much to distribute to each spouse’s respective children and whether to put any restrictions on assets that will pass to the surviving spouse is a difficult but important conversation to have.

What Happens if I Die Without a Will?

Dying without a will is called dying intestate. If a person dies intestate, the state’s default laws govern who is to receive the decedent’s assets. These are called the laws of intestacy. With blended families, such laws very commonly do not represent what someone with children from a prior relationship would want to happen with their assets. This is due to the fact that stepchildren are not entitled to inherit from a stepparent. Therefore, if a surviving spouse is entitled to all the decedent-spouse’s assets and the surviving spouse does not have a will, then at the surviving spouse’s death, only the children of the surviving spouse would be entitled to inherit. If the surviving spouse and decedent-spouse had mutual children, such children would inherit, but not the separate child of the decedent-spouse since such child would be a stepchild in relation to the surviving spouse. If the surviving spouse remarries, the new spouse would potentially be entitled to inherit all or a portion of the assets.

What percentage of assets the surviving spouse would be entitled to inherit in the absence of a will depends on the nature of the assets, the state’s individual laws, and the existence of other surviving members of the decedent-spouse’s family. The outcome of such analysis often leads to unintended results for the surviving spouse and the children of the decedent-spouse. A decedent-spouse may have assumed the surviving spouse is entitled to all assets, whereas under the laws of intestacy, this might not be the case.

Should I Leave Everything in My Will to My Spouse?

When thinking about an estate plan, it is important to consider the options for leaving assets to or for the benefit of the surviving spouse as there are pros and cons to each approach. The common options are to:

  1.  Leave all assets outright to the surviving spouse, which means there are no restrictions whatsoever on the assets;
  2. Leave assets in a spousal trust for the lifetime benefit of the surviving spouse; 
  3. Execute a formal agreement with your spouse not to change your estate plan; or
  4. Leave a portion of assets directly to the children that are at risk of being cut out of inheritance rights upon the death of the first spouse.

Outright to Spouse

Even when spouses execute estate planning documents together, it is possible for the children of the decedent-spouse to be cut off from inheriting. For example, if Husband executes a will and leaves all property outright (free of trust) to Wife, at Husband’s death, Wife would be able to do whatever she liked with the property, including spending it or executing her own estate planning documents that leave the assets to only her children (or a new spouse). The reason many couples opt for leaving assets outright to the surviving spouse is that it is administratively the simplest.

Spousal Trusts

The other option for leaving assets for the benefit of a spouse without losing control of where such assets are ultimately distributed involves the use of a spousal trust. Spouses can be hesitant to add any restrictions to property going to the surviving spouse. However, spousal trusts can be written to allow the surviving spouse a wide degree of control over the property, so such trust arrangements are less of an imposition. During the surviving spouse’s lifetime, the surviving spouse can have access to the funds in the manner stated in the trust, but at the surviving spouse’s death, the remaining trust assets go to the individuals listed in the decedent-spouse’s estate plan.

For tax reasons beyond the scope of this blog, spousal trusts are commonly written so that the surviving spouse is entitled to income from all assets in trust for their lifetime and can access principal of the trust if they need anything for their health, education, support, and maintenance to enable them to maintain their standard of living. Also, very commonly, the surviving spouse is designated as trustee of the trust. This gives the surviving spouse a large amount of discretion over how such trust assets should be used. However, the surviving spouse is still accountable for their actions during their time as trustee to the beneficiaries who will inherit at the surviving spouse’s death (the remainder beneficiaries).

Will Contracts

One option that falls in between the two options listed above with regard to the level of restrictions placed on assets inherited by the surviving spouse involves the use of a contract to make a will or a contract to not change the estate plan. The contracts are executed in writing and contain promises made by each spouse not to reduce the share allocated to the decedent-spouse’s family in the surviving spouse’s estate plan. The downside of this option is that it is difficult for a beneficiary entitled to a portion of the decedent-spouse’s estate to recover the share from the estate of the surviving spouse. Enforcing the contract will typically involve more litigation than if the assets were left in a trust for the surviving spouse because with a spousal trust, the assets would not be in the surviving spouse’s estate, but rather stay under control of the trust.

Gifts at First Spouse’s Death

Another less common approach involves leaving some assets directly to the spouse’s children at the death of the first spouse. This option avoids the need for a trust-type arrangement for the surviving spouse because the children of the decedent-spouse will be provided for directly. The downside of this is the concern that the surviving spouse could have too little to live on in the future. This approach works best when either the surviving spouse has substantial assets of their own or the decedent-spouse has enough to provide for both the surviving spouse’s needs and still leave a gift to their respective children.

Final Thoughts

Estate Planning attorneys at Navigate Law Group can help with setting up an estate plan based on each blended family’s unique estate planning goals. If you have questions about how to get started with your estate plan, please feel free to contact Navigate Law Group.
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Dainen N. Penta

Dainen N. Penta

Senior Attorney

Real Estate Law | Landlord Tenant Law | Bankruptcy Law | Debtor-Creditor | Estate Planning | Estate & Trust Administration

Josi R. Howard

Josi R. Howard

Senior Attorney

Estate Planning | Estate & Trust Administration

Marissa D. Bartolucci

Marissa D. Bartolucci

Senior Attorney

James C. Howe

James C. Howe

Retired

Disclaimer

Every legal issue is very unique. Accordingly, the information in this blog is intended as general education material and not as legal advice. If you think you may have a legal issue, you should consult an attorney.