Managing finances in blended families (commonly known as stepfamilies) can get complicated and lead to conflicts if there is no proper financial plan that accounts for the financial habits, obligations and goals of every member. There should be open, healthy conversations regarding finances in the family without hesitation.

Framework For Merging Finances And Assets For Blended Families

You can follow this step-by-step procedure to plan and manage financial transactions in your blended family:

1. Full disclosure of finances: Partners and adult children in a blended family should fully disclose their current savings, investments, real estate and other financial possessions. More importantly, everyone should openly discuss their financial obligations, debts, etc.
2. Collective planning: Depending on your family’s financial health and plan, discuss if you might need to open a consolidated account, keep your accounts separate, or go for a combination of joint and separate accounts. Strategize how you plan to merge your assets, manage your budget, significant spending, joint investments, etc.
3. Allot separate funds to every area: The financial needs of a blended family are complex and diverse. You need to manage retirement funds, create an emergency fund, plan for your children’s education and marriage, and even financially plan for your vacations (if it is a priority for your family). The more strategically you allot sufficient funds to all these areas, the better will be the budget management.
4. Insurance and estate planning: This is the most significant step in financial planning for a blended family. Update all your life insurance policies, health insurance coverage, beneficiaries for wills and retirement accounts, and asset distribution on death, as per your new family structure. In this way, you will ensure that all the members of your blended family are adequately protected from financial emergencies. 
5. Regular check-ins: This is a crucial step of financial management for any family structure. People’s financial status, goals, etc may change due to factors like economic fluctuation, job change, health issues etc. You should regularly check in with the other family members regarding all these factors to adjust your financial plans and expectations accordingly.

How To Divide Assets In A Blended Family?

Dividing assets among the members of a blended family is a complex process. You have to account for multiple factors like every member’s financial contributions, needs and responsibilities before initiating the asset allocation process.

To ensure a fair asset distribution, consider these factors:

• Financial responsibilities and needs: Consider the daily expenses, medical and education costs, and long-term financial responsibilities like alimony payments, student loans, etc.
• Income levels and contribution to family budget: The members of a blended family who contribute higher to the family income might require a larger asset share to fulfill their financial obligations.
• Family’s needs in the future: Children in a blended family might be of drastically different ages so they may have different needs. Accordingly, allot different portions of assets to the children as per their age and needs.
• Financial obligations: Both partners in a blended family may have completely different financial commitments like credit card debts, mortgages, loans, etc. It is because they have spent a chunk of their life separately. So during asset distribution, these obligations need to be considered.
• Value of assets brought into the marriage by individual partners: In a blended family, both partners bring their share of assets like savings, investments, real estate, etc. These numbers need to be reflected in the account during asset distribution.
• Sentimental value of property: A member may be more attached to an asset. In that case, acknowledging the sentiments and approaching the asset division process with empathy leads to a harmonious outcome.

If you follow the financial framework and tips in these articles, financial planning for your blended family will never be chaos. Though there might still be disagreements, resolve them with strategic discussions, mutual understanding and respect