The Problem
In a second marriage, the first death can move everything to the stepparent.
A common plan for a remarried couple leaves everything to the surviving spouse, who then leaves it to all of the children. That holds only as long as the survivor keeps the same plan. A surviving spouse can sign a new will or amend their own trust, and the first spouse’s children have no say.
Much of a typical estate never passes through the will. Retirement accounts, life insurance and jointly titled property go where the beneficiary form or the deed says, which may not match the plan the couple signed.
The question for each couple: if either spouse dies first, who receives what, and who can still change it?
How It Works
Both spouses’ plans, in either order of death.
01
Whose child is whose
The household record notes each child as both spouses’, one spouse’s or the other’s. Each spouse’s will starts from that spouse’s own children.
02
Both plans, read together
Bancroft reads both spouses’ Bancroft wills, trusts and deeds alongside the accounts, beneficiaries and title recorded for the household.
03
Either order of death
One view shows who receives what if each spouse dies first, at the first death and at the second, and marks each share the survivor can still change.
04
What it points out
A child who receives nothing at one spouse’s death. A beneficiary designation or title that differs from the plan. An account with no beneficiary recorded. A house deeded so the survivor can change who receives it.
05
The client decides
The view describes what the documents do and lists the general options and attorney review. The client decides what, if anything, to change.
06
Advisor and client see the same view
It sits on the advisor’s household page, on the client’s review step before finalizing, and in the client portal.
An Example
Mark and Lisa, if Mark dies first.
Mark has three adult children from his first marriage: Emma, Jacob and Olivia. Lisa has a son, Ethan. Both want all four children to share equally after both deaths. A fictional household.
Everything to the survivor
With a lifetime trust for Lisa
At Mark’s death
Everything to the survivor
Lisa receives Mark’s property under his will, plus the 401(k) and the house by beneficiary form and title. Emma, Jacob and Olivia receive nothing from Mark.
With a lifetime trust for Lisa
Mark’s share of the trust is held for Lisa’s lifetime: the income, and principal for her health, education, maintenance and support. The 401(k), and the house unless it is deeded to the trust, still pass to Lisa outright, and the view says so.
At Lisa’s death
Everything to the survivor
Everything passes under Lisa’s will and beneficiary forms as they read then. Lisa can change them at any time.
With a lifetime trust for Lisa
What remains of Mark’s share goes to Emma, Jacob, Olivia and Ethan, and the trust’s terms bar Lisa from changing it. The 401(k) and anything else Lisa received outright pass under her own documents, which she can change.
In the first column, the view notes that Mark’s three children receive nothing at his death and that what they receive later depends on documents Lisa can change. Which plan to sign is the couple’s decision.
Wills
Will options for stepchildren and backup beneficiaries.
Stepchildren
A will can name stepchildren to be treated as the client’s own children in gifts to children and descendants.
Backup beneficiaries
One backup list takes the residue only if every primary share fails, in equal shares or by percentage.
A beneficiary who dies first
Each beneficiary’s relationship sets where their share goes: to a child’s or stepchild’s descendants, or to the other beneficiaries for a spouse or friend. The client can choose differently for anyone.
Specific gifts
A cash or item gift can pass to the recipient’s descendants if the recipient dies first.
Lifetime Trust for the Spouse
A share held for the surviving spouse, with the remainder set at the first death.
In several supported states, the revocable trust can hold the first spouse’s share in a lifetime trust for the surviving spouse. The order-of-death view then shows the property recorded in that share as fixed at the first death.
- The surviving spouse receives all of the income, and principal for health, education, maintenance and support.
- What remains goes to the beneficiaries named in the trust. Its terms bar the surviving spouse, the trustee and anyone else from amending it or redirecting the remainder after the first death.
- An independent co-trustee decides principal payments, or the spouse serves alone, as the client chooses.
- A yearly report goes to the spouse and to the beneficiaries who receive what remains.
- An optional right for the spouse to live in the home, with the costs divided between the spouse and the trust.
Care of a Minor Child
Someone to sign for a child while a parent cannot.
A stepparent usually has no authority to sign for a stepchild, and a guardian named in a will waits for a death or a court. Bancroft generates the document each supported state provides for a parent to arrange a child’s care while the parent cannot provide it, one document per child, filled in from the household record.
When the caregiver is the child’s stepparent, the document ends that authority on a divorce or legal separation filing. Once the signing date is recorded, Bancroft tracks when a dated document ends and sends a reminder before it does. Read who can sign for a child when a parent cannot.
Attorney Review
Where an attorney comes in.
Where the lifetime trust is offered, a married person’s trust with an existing prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, a lifetime trust with different terms, and certain homesteads require attorney review before signing.
Any household can take its draft to an attorney of its choosing, and attorney review is available as an add-on. The order-of-death view covers documents prepared in Bancroft and the accounts and title recorded for the household. It does not interpret documents prepared elsewhere and is not legal advice.