A South Florida attorney says blended families should take note: Estate planning and execution are crucial in attempts to avoid messy legal disputes, like the one playing out between California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her daughter, versus the grown children of her second husband of 42 years, who died in February.

The 90-year old Feinstein, who reportedly is in ill health after a recent hospitalization, is in a legal battle over the estate of Feinstein’s late billionaire husband Richard Blum.

Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), left, and her husband Richard Blum are seen in the audience prior to the California gubernatorial candidates Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman. Photo: Paul Sakuma/AP