STEPFAMILIES-INTERNATIONAL
Dr. Margorie Engel

STEPFAMILY FINANCIAL ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
- Business Supplies
- Document Changes
 (personal, legal, business, children)
- Managing Financial Information
 (documentation, income and expenses, current)
- Remarriage Discussion Points
- Your Money, My Money, Our Money
 (key points, sharing management, decisions)

WEDDING BELLS AND DOLLAR BILLS
- Stepfamily Financial Issues
- The "Marriage Balance Sheet"
- Documenting Financial Information

WHAT IF...YOU NEED AN INSURANCE CHECK?
- Homeowner or Renter Insurance
- Automobile Insurance
- Liability Coverage
- Reorganizing Insurance Policies
- Medical Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Disability Insurance
- Health Care Directives

A THIRD PARTY IN YOUR REMARRIAGE CONTRACT: THE GOVERNMENT
- Credit and Debt
- Joint Tax Returns
- Changes in Tax Status
- IRS Refunds
- Alimony
- Taxes on Property
- Additional Notes About Property

MANAGING STEPFAMILY MONEY: YOURS, MINE, AND OURS
- Labeling the Money
- Separate Accounts: Yours and Mine
- Mixed Accounts: Yours, Mine, and Ours
- One Big Ours Account
- However Money is Handled...

LOVE AND MARRIAGE LEADS TO CHILDREN AND MONEY
- Out-Going and In-Coming Child Support
- Fair Treatment for All of the Children
- Money and Equality
- The Emotional Dilemma
- Children as Consumers
 (earning extra money, phone bills, loans)
- "Boomerang Kids"

DO I HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO SUPPORT MY STEPCHILDREN?
- Common Law and Stepchild Support
- Support of Biological Children and Stepchildren
- IRS Exemptions
- Medical Expenses
- Stepfamilies in the Real World

TUITION TERROR FOR STEPFAMILIES
- Federal and State Financial Aid
- College and University (institutional) Funds
- Private Financial Aid
- Is College the Right Choice at this Time?
- Where the Money Will Probably Come From
- Light at the End of the Tunnel
- Additional Hints

STEPFAMILY RETIREMENT YEARS: GOLDEN OR BLEAK?
- Social Security
- IRS's
- Joint and Survivor Annuity
- Pension Benefits in Trouble
- Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO's)
- To Think About

COUPLE TALK ABOUT INHERITANCE IN A STEPFAMILY
PART 1: THE CONSIDERATIONS IN PLANNING
- The Great Estate Plan
 (Who will inherit? Which asets? When?)
- Assets and Liabilities
PART 2: DOCUMENTS TO MEET YOUR OBJECTIVES
- Cash Crisis
 (bank accounts, beneficiaries)
- Wills
- Structuring Your Will
 (adult children, dependent children, stepchildren)
- Intestacy and Inheritance by Stepchildren
 (Proposal for stepfamily inheritance)


Financial articles are available from Dr. Engel