While estate planning is important for married couples, it is arguably even more necessary for couples that live together without getting married. Without an estate plan, unmarried couples won’t be able to make end-of-life decisions or inherit from each other.
Estate planning serves two main functions: determining who can make decisions for you if you become incapacitated and who gets your assets when you die. There are laws in place to protect spouses in couples that have failed to plan by governing the distribution of property in the event of death. If you do not have a will, the property will pass to your spouse and children, or to parents if you die without a spouse or children.
But there are no laws in place to protect unmarried partners. Without a solid estate plan, your partner may be shut out of the decision making and the inheritance. The following are the essential estate planning steps that can help unmarried couples:
- Joint Ownership. One way to make sure property passes to an unmarried partner is to own the property jointly, with the right of survivorship. If one joint tenant dies, his or her interest immediately ceases to exist and the remaining joint tenants own the entire property. This is also a good way to avoid probate.
- Beneficiary Designations. Make sure to review the beneficiary designations on bank accounts, retirement funds, and life insurance to make sure your partner is named as the beneficiary (if that is what you want). Your partner will not have access to any of those accounts without a specific beneficiary designation.
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