Estate Planning And Dishonest Ex-Wife

(North Carolina)

I am married and pregnant with my first child. It is my husband's third marriage. First marriage resulted in one daughter who is now an adult and one daughter that he since found out was not his. He no longer has a relationship with the latter daughter because of this. Second marriage resulted in two children, both under ten years old. This ex-wife is the custodial parent and my husband pays child support timely.

This ex-wife is very dishonest and has drug us to court for a number of things, even getting people to testify falsely against my husband. She is very greedy and all about getting money any way she can. I feel I can expect her to challenge anything we set up regarding our estate and encourage her girls to do so as they get older.

For the sake of peace, I want to set up our estate in a wise way and am wondering what is the best way to do this. If my husband dies, I do not want to have to deal with a legal hassle at all. We do not have a lot of money for attorneys.

Right now, my husband and I have decided it might be best to maintain a life insurance policiy for his kids from previous marriages and find a way that the rest of the estate goes to me and our child(ren). This would make sure everyone is taken care of and there is nothing to fight about (if it will be honored by the courts).

Would this work? Would the ex be able to look to our home as an asset for future child support, etc.? Is there an inexpensive way that we can have privacy in the event of my husband's death? Also, we would like the kids to get the money when they are older for college and such instead of the ex-wife spending it all on her new clothes and autos, like is happening with child support payments now. The kids come over with holes in their clothes!

Thank you so much for any ideas!