After business hours, the American male business owner likes company … female company. My experience, as a tax planner, with guys who have lost their former brides via death or divorce could fill a book — a big book.
From a tax-planning viewpoint, once the first (could be second, third, etc.) marriage ends, the ex-husband falls into one of three distinct categories. Each category requires different economic and tax strategies. Let’s take them one at a time.
Second marriages
This is by far the biggest group with the biggest estate tax problems, economic problems and a host of other potential problems. Following is a partial list of the most common facts and circumstances that cause the problems (later we’ll discuss how to solve these never-ending problems). I’m going to use Joe and his new wife Mary as an example, however, please note that the below does not pretend to cover every problem between him and her in any second marriage, but it covers the six problems seen most often in a real-life estate planning practice.