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Blended families require sensitive advice and careful drafting. Our role is to ensure that everyone’s interests are considered, and that future uncertainty is replaced with clarity and confidence.
A couple in their 40s came to us after buying their first home together. Both were in second relationships and each had children from earlier in life.
Between them, they had six children:
The female partner had two adult daughters.
The male partner had three adult daughters and one son under 18.
They had no children together.
They had purchased their new home as tenants in common in unequal shares, reflecting their different financial contributions.
Their priorities were clear. They wanted the surviving partner to feel secure in the home, while ensuring their own children would ultimately inherit their intended share. One partner had no Will in place, and the other had an outdated Will that no longer reflected her family circumstances.
They wanted a structure that felt fair, protective and easy to understand.
Estate planning for blended families is rarely straightforward. We discussed several important considerations:
How to protect children from previous relationships while still providing security for a partner.
The risk that, after the first death, arrangements could be changed in a way that disadvantages stepchildren.
The importance of clearly defining ownership shares in jointly owned property.
The danger of relying on outdated Wills that no longer reflect current intentions.
We also explained that Wills can be changed during a person’s lifetime, provided they have capacity. This makes it especially important in blended families to structure arrangements carefully from the outset.
Our focus was on creating a balanced solution that respected both partners’ responsibilities to their own children, while maintaining fairness and transparency across the wider family.
This involved:
Ensuring the surviving partner could continue living in the home, without overriding the children’s long-term inheritance rights.
Ringfencing each partner’s share of the property so it would ultimately pass to their own children.
Avoiding ambiguity in drafting, which can often lead to disputes in blended family situations.
Keeping the documents clear and practical, rather than overly technical or complicated.
Throughout the process, we encouraged open discussion about expectations. In blended families, clarity is key, particularly where children are adults and may have their own assumptions about inheritance. We emphasised the importance of reviewing Wills over time as circumstances change, so the arrangements continue to reflect the couple’s wishes.
We replaced the outdated Will and prepared two new Wills that:
Accurately reflected the current family structure.
Clearly defined who would inherit and in what proportions.
Preserved each partner’s defined share of the property.
Included appropriate safeguards to reduce the risk of future disputes.
Appointed suitable executors and trustees to administer the estates fairly.
While the legal mechanism included protective trust wording to support these aims, the overall structure remained straightforward and easy to follow.
We also discussed the wider context including the importance of keeping the Wills under review and considering future inheritance tax planning if circumstances change.
By the end of the process:
Each partner had the security of a life interest arrangement over the property, allowing the survivor to remain living in the home while ensuring the deceased’s defined percentage share was preserved for their own children.
Each partner’s share of the property was ringfenced for their respective family line, so that on the second death the estate would pass to their own children rather than merging into one side of the family.
The female partner’s daughters were given a structured right to occupy the property until age 30, providing them with a practical home base during early adulthood without granting control over capital or income.
Appropriate trust provisions were included to safeguard the minor son’s future inheritance, recognising that he has autism and may require ongoing support with financial management.
The outdated Will was replaced with a clear and up-to-date document, removing references to former family members and properly reflecting the couple’s current family structure and intentions.
The overall result was a carefully balanced plan: security for the surviving partner, clarity for all six children, protection for a vulnerable beneficiary, and a structure that respected the realities of a blended family with separate financial interests.
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