So it’s funny because whenever I meet with blended families they almost always tell me, you know, Christine, it took us two years to get to a point where we’re sitting in the chair talking to you. And so I would say the biggest challenge is just the hesitancy to plan and so that’s why a lot of blended families fail to plan, number one. Number two, I think a lot of clients feel like, you know, I’ve got to develop this plan before I go see a lawyer and tell the lawyer what my plan’s gonna be. And so I would just inform the public out there, you don’t have to have a plan before you come see your lawyer, that’s what coming and seeing your lawyer is all about. That’s why they call us counselors because we help you work through the development of your estate plan so that, you know, it’s something that you can be happy and proud of.

We know you want to leave an important lasting legacy to your family and we help you develop an estate plan that will meet that goal. And so I would say, you know, overcoming the hesitancy to plan. The second, I guess challenge, is the client feeling like they need a plan before they come in. And then the third thing I would say is that, you know, if you’re a blended family you really need to come in and plan because it’s – Texas has a plan already for you if you don’t have the plan yourself, and I think a lot of people are surprised to realize that in a blended family when a person passes away and they’re married and they have children outside the marriage, their half of the community estate passes to their children and not to the spouse.

And so, so many clients are surprised to hear that and they’re thankful that they came in and talked to an attorney. So for those blended families out there, it’s important to visit with an attorney and there are a lot of really great attorneys experienced with blended families in the state of Texas.