What special will planning do I need if I have a blended family in Ontario?

Blended families — where one or both spouses bring children from prior relationships — face competing interests that a simple will does not address well. The core tension is providing for the surviving spouse while also ensuring that assets eventually pass to your own children (and not solely to your new spouse's family).

A mutual will or a spousal trust is often used in blended family planning. A spousal trust, for example, leaves assets to a trust managed for the benefit of the surviving spouse during their lifetime, with the remainder passing to your children on the surviving spouse's death. This gives the spouse income and use of the assets without giving them absolute ownership, which helps ensure the assets eventually reach your children.

Important considerations: your surviving spouse still has equalization rights under Ontario's Family Law Act, regardless of what your will says. If you want to reduce this exposure, a marriage contract (if you are remarrying) that addresses property division is worth considering alongside the will.

Common pitfalls include forgetting to update wills after remarriage (which revokes the prior will) and failing to clearly distinguish between step-children and biological or adopted children in the will's language. If you intend to include step-children, name them explicitly. If you do not, make that equally clear.