One difficult question many people may ask themselves while in the process of creating their estate plan is whether they made adequate provisions to support their dependents. This question becomes more difficult as people live longer lives and enter into multiple marriages. According to a recent article, decedents often fail to adequately provide for the surviving spouse they left behind. This often occurs because as couples accumulated greater wealth, they live enhanced lifestyles and subsequently fail to take these lifestyles into account when drafting their wills. In this instance, many people underestimate the amount they will need to continue to support their enhanced lifestyle into retirement. If a dependent who is not adequately provided for decides to make a support claim, this may often result in a long, drawn-out process. Naturally, such legal claims can quickly result in bitter fights between family members, as well as disputes over what amount the decedent wished to leave various dependents, and what amount was actually left. The only way to assist your dependents in avoiding this process is to draft a carefully thought-out estate plan that adequately provides for your dependents. It is important to speak with an estate planning attorney to get a realistic, outside perspective of what amount is necessary to maintain the expected standard of living, as well as to plan for contingencies you may not anticipate. To review or plan your estate with an experienced estate planning attorney, call us at 818.956.9200.