needadvice45
New Member
I am thinking about getting married to my girlfriend (if she says yes!) who has a 4 year old child from a previous marriage. I am curious about inheritance issues concerning my would-be step child as well as my own future children. I was thinking that it doesn't seem fair to allow all the children, including the step child, to have an equal inheritance because the step child also will have an inheritance from his father and step mother. (his father is remarried now) It would seem that if my step child were to inherit equally from both biological parents, and their spouses, then he would potentially end up "double dipping". In other words the biological children, on both sides, would only have ONE set of parents to inherit from, but the step child would have TWO sets of parents to inherit from which does not seem fair. How does a person make sure of a fair distribution for all the children once the parents die?
Finally, I will inherit, along w/ my two siblings, my parents lake home. My parents have spoken w/ my siblings and me and we all agree we'd like the property to stay in our family name and control so that future generations of our family will have a place to enjoy, etc. How would I handle passing on my interest in the family lake home regarding my children and step child? As I said, we want the lake home to stay in our family, and my step child would not be biologically related to me and would not have the same last name, either. I cannot adopt him because both of his parents are alive and interested in his life, etc. Therefore, if I let him inherit an interest in the lake home I would essentially be introducing an entirely new "family" into our lake home estate because his last name is different than mine and quite frankly I want nothing to do with his father's family, etc. I guess it might seem cold hearted, but the property did not originate with me as I am only inheriting an interest in it, so it does not seem right to take any part in allowing my family lake estate to be split between two families when it was meant to stay in our family alone. Any advice out there?
~Concerned about the future~
Finally, I will inherit, along w/ my two siblings, my parents lake home. My parents have spoken w/ my siblings and me and we all agree we'd like the property to stay in our family name and control so that future generations of our family will have a place to enjoy, etc. How would I handle passing on my interest in the family lake home regarding my children and step child? As I said, we want the lake home to stay in our family, and my step child would not be biologically related to me and would not have the same last name, either. I cannot adopt him because both of his parents are alive and interested in his life, etc. Therefore, if I let him inherit an interest in the lake home I would essentially be introducing an entirely new "family" into our lake home estate because his last name is different than mine and quite frankly I want nothing to do with his father's family, etc. I guess it might seem cold hearted, but the property did not originate with me as I am only inheriting an interest in it, so it does not seem right to take any part in allowing my family lake estate to be split between two families when it was meant to stay in our family alone. Any advice out there?
~Concerned about the future~