Blended Families Part 3 | Navigating Estate Planning with Tammi Caress [Episode 35]

Can you protect your new spouse and guarantee your kids from a prior marriage still inherit? Yes — and in this episode, Tammi Caress walks through exactly how. This is Part 3 of our Blended Families series. In Parts 1 and 2, we covered the problems blended families run into with estate planning. In this episode, we get into the fixes. What we cover: ✅ QTIP Trusts — how this marital deduction trust lets a surviving spouse receive income (and sometimes principal) while preserving the remainder for kids from a prior relationship ✅ Life insurance & ILITs — using life insurance to equalize what spouses vs. kids receive, and how an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust keeps policy proceeds out of the taxable estate entirely ✅ Premarital & postmarital agreements — reframed as an inheritance protection tool, not a sign of distrust, including how to separate community vs. separate property in Oregon and Washington ✅ Titling & beneficiary audits — why retirement accounts and joint bank accounts pass outside your will or trust, and a real case where a divorced (but reunited) couple's outdated beneficiary designations caused a major mess ✅ Choosing the right fiduciaries — why naming a spouse and adult child as co-trustees can backfire, and when a professional trustee is worth the cost ✅ Having the hard conversations — why documents alone don't prevent hurt feelings, and what NOT to do when your kids react to the plan Catch up on the rest of the series: 🔗 Part 1: https://caresslaw.estate/episode-26-u... 🔗 Part 2: https://caresslaw.estate/episode-27-u... If any of this sounds like your family's situation, please don't go it alone — and please don't use a general practitioner for this. Blended family estate planning has real technical traps, and getting it wrong can cost your family far more than getting it right. 📅 Schedule a consultation or register for a free workshop: https://caresslaw.estate/estate-plann... 🌐 Explore free blogs, on-demand webinars, and downloadable guides: https://caresslaw.estate Caress Law, PC | Estate Planning & Probate Attorneys | Portland, OR | Serving Oregon and Washington #BlendedFamilies #EstatePlanning #QTIPTrust #ILIT #PrenupPlanning #EstatePlanningAttorney #CaressLaw #PortlandOregon #StepfamilyPlanning #TrustAndEstates