SE HABLA ESPAÑOL
SE HABLA ESPAÑOL
For Blended Families & Surviving Spouses
Protecting the person you love shouldn’t mean disinheriting the children you raised.
Blended family, second marriage, and surviving spouse planning for Miami HNI families. Florida and cross-border.
For Blended Families & Surviving Spouses
Protecting the person you love shouldn’t mean disinheriting the children you raised.
Blended family, second marriage, and surviving spouse planning for Miami HNI families. Florida and cross-border.
The plan you wrote years ago was likely designed for a different family dynamic. For blended families, the default legal outcome is often binary: either the surviving spouse is unintentionally left without support, or the children from a prior marriage are disinherited.
Both results often lead to the same destination: a public court battle and a fractured family legacy.
This conflict is entirely preventable. The instruments to resolve these tensions have existed for decades, yet they are rarely implemented with the precision required for high-net-worth estates. At Trust Counsel, we specialize in the “fairness by design” approach, creating structures that ensure your spouse is cared for and your children are protected, without forcing them to compete for the same dollar.
Couples in a second or third marriage with children from prior relationships.
HNW individuals navigating a complex estate that wasn't properly optimized for their needs.
Mixed-citizenship marriages where one spouse is not a U.S. citizen.
Individuals bringing significant pre-marital wealth or business interests into a new marriage.
Families where one spouse’s wealth significantly exceeds the other’s, requiring delicate equalization.
We don’t believe in “one-size-fits-all” inheritance. We build the legal bridge between your love for your spouse and your commitment to your children.
The cornerstone of blended family planning. Provides income and support to your surviving spouse for life, then directs the remaining principal to your children from your prior marriage. Your spouse cannot redirect it. Your children are protected.
Captures the deceased spouse’s federal exemption so it is not wasted, while still providing for the survivor.
Required for non-citizen surviving spouses to defer federal estate tax that would otherwise be due immediately at the first death.
Provides the liquidity to equalize inheritances between a surviving spouse and children from a prior marriage without forcing the sale of the family business or homestead.
The Florida Constitution restricts how a homestead can be devised when there is a spouse or minor child. We structure around the restrictions so your homestead does what you actually want it to do.
A confidential conversation to align your intentions for both your spouse and your children.
A written plan presenting the recommended structure and the trade-offs of each option.
Execution of all trust instruments, specialized wills, and supporting documents.
Synchronizing your estate plan with prenups or postnups for seamless legal cohesion.
A rigorous review of beneficiary designations—fixing the most common point of plan failure.
Direct coordination with your CPA and advisors for total tax and funding consistency.
A confidential conversation to align your intentions for both your spouse and your children.
A written plan presenting the recommended structure and the trade-offs of each option.
A written roadmap detailing the recommended structure and the sequence of transfers.
Execution of all trust instruments, specialized wills, and supporting documents.
A rigorous review of beneficiary designations—fixing the most common point of plan failure.
Direct coordination with your CPA and advisors for total tax and funding consistency.
Yes. That conversation is part of the engagement. We are not therapists, but we have run this conversation many times and we know which structures defuse which fears.
Yes, significantly. Without a QDOT or proper planning, federal estate tax can be due at the first death rather than deferred. We handle this routinely.
No. The prenup and the estate plan need to agree with each other. We coordinate both.
Fixed scope, fixed fee, quoted after the discovery call.
Book a private planning discovery call. We’ll look at your situation and be remarkably candid: if we can add significant value, we’ll show you how. If your current plan is sufficient, we’ll tell you that too.
Partner · Estate Planning & Asset Protection.
Leslie focuses on estate planning, asset protection, and corporate transactions for domestic and foreign families.
FIU Law J.D. 2009 · Florida Bar · S.D. Fla. · USPTO Reg. 62,918
Tax Counsel · Cross-Border Tax
Francoise advises high net worth foreign and domestic clients on U.S. federal income, gift, and estate tax matters.
UF LL.M. Taxation · St. Thomas J.D. cum laude · U.S. Tax Court