A CEO at a large, successful company remarried after his first wife died. He sought to provide for his heirs while ensuring he and his new wife enjoy a comfortable life together.
The widowed patriarch of a large family, an executive, wanted to remarry, while protecting his assets and securing for his first family’s future. Wescott worked on his investment and retirement strategy with him and his first wife before her passing. Then Wescott worked with the client on his estate and investment plans after her death.
With a forthcoming remarriage, estate and investment planning needed readdressing. Along with the asset planning, the client wanted to create and present to his fiancée a prenuptial agreement. This would protect his estate and provide for his children and grandchildren, and ensure he and his new wife have sufficient means to live out their lives together.
Though the presentation of a “pre-nup” to a spouse-to-be can cause friction, the fiancée accepted its importance. She had developed a strong relationship with the children, and came to trust Wescott’s vital role in her fiancé’s financial affairs.
Through the marriage—and the warm relationship between the new wife and the existing children, the couple has doubled their gifting to his children to the legal annual limit. The entire family now also holds a close bond with Wescott, so much so that the new wife has engaged Wescott to help manage her personal financial affairs along with her existing advisor.
The dynamics of third-generation giving—combined with the familial complexities of remarriage—can challenge any client-advisor relationship. Pre-nups can cause friction and gifting can be seen as a threat to the new couple’s finances. Not all relationships are this pleasant. Between the new wife’s genial nature, and Wescott’s nurturing guidance, the relationship has blossomed.
