When one of the biological parents passes away, it has a huge impact on the children left behind and step-parent/bio-parent. The stepparent may feel that they are obligated to pick up the pieces, since the bio-parent/step-parent is no longer around. The step-kids may feel that they cannot get close to the step-parent, because the deceased parent's children may feel that would be disrespectful and/or disloyal to their deceased bio-parent.
One of the questions that comes up is whether the step-kids will keep in touch with the step-parent, even though their biological parent is no longer living. This can be a very sticky situation and if the relationship was strained between the step-kids and step-parent, one side or the other may not be inclined to keep up the relationship.
The biological children of the deceased parent and the biological children, if any, of the step-parent may be a bit awkward, due to the differing feelings of the kids due to the varying feelings of each child. One child may feel traumatized by the loss and another child may not be as emotional about the loss of the parent. There may be a lot of tension between the children and/or step-parent/bio-parent.
After the loss of a parent, it is probably a good idea for each family member to go to counseling to sort out their feelings. I think it is important after a parent passes away for the children and spouse left behind to go to counseling.
Since this is such a sensitive subject, everyone in the family needs to be sensitive of the rest of the family members' feelings, and to tread lightly when talking about this subject. Hopefully, in the end, everyone is able to respect and listen to each others' feelings and thoughts.
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