Planning for Unmarried Couples

     Peace of mind. Estate planning is a difficult task for anyone. But for unmarried couples, it’s a special challenge. You’ll know that you’ve done everything legally possible to protect each others’ rights.

Tax benefits

     When a married person dies, his or her spouse is protected under the law, and a marital deduction is in place that minimizes taxes on the estate. Unmarried couples don’t enjoy that same benefit. But careful estate planning with a lawyer experienced in estate planning for unmarried  couples can let you minimize the tax burden a great deal. An experienced lawyer will know how to set up wills and estates to keep the estate tax from wiping out everything you’ve worked for.

Funeral Planning

     When a married person dies, the surviving spouse is automatically legally able to plan the deceased person’s funeral and final arrangements. The surviving partner in an unmarried relationship has no such right. They are not legally recognized as a spouse, so the deceased person’s nearest relative will have the right to make these final plans. If a will is carefully worded, however, these rights can be given to the remaining partner.

Long-Term Care

     Often, questions of estates come up long before a person’s death. When someone must be admitted into a nursing home, for instance. Estate planning that leaves room for this possibility can help preserve the ability of unmarried couples to make decisions on each others’ behalf.

Children’s Care

     Estate planning can help provide for any children raised by an unmarried couple. If the partner who is not the biological or adoptive parent dies, he or she might wish to leave some or all of the estate to the child. This won’t happen automatically as it might in a legally married relationship.

Rights to See Children

     If the person who is the biological parent dies, estate planning can protect the other partner’s right to have contact with any children. Without documents that instill this right to the person, he or she has no legal claim to the child and can be legally denied visitation by whoever becomes the child’s guardian.

Joint Bank Accounts

     The contents of these would automatically go to the remaining spouse in a marriage. But it takes estate planning to ensure that they go to the surviving partner in an unmarried relationship.

Hospital Visitation

     Estate planning can ensure that one person can visit another in hospital. Without it, a person may be denied the right to see their partner.

General Preparedness

     There are no guarantees when it comes to our health. If one person should become incapacitated for whatever reason, estate planning can ensure that the other person is assigned the rights that a person in a legal marriage would be given automatically.

Changes in The Law

     Finally, if you have completed your estate planning and the laws change, as they often do in this area, you can quickly implement changes to your wills and estates to ensure that you’re protected. Please contact us for more information .