Estate Planning for Non-Married Couples and Couples Without Children
At our firm, we work with couples every day on their estate planning documents. Often, our clients are married and have children. However, very frequently, we work with long or short term committed partners on their estate plans. For them, estate planning is absolutely critical. The standard inheritance laws in Virginia are built with married partners with children in mind. If you don’t have an estate plan, sometimes the law would still mirror how you would want your assets distributed at the time of your passing. But, just as likely, the law could have a structure that is the exact opposite of what you might want. Also, we always ask our clients who they would want making financial or medical decisions for them should they not be able to make those decisions for themselves. It might be a trusted friend, a partner, or a parent. A well-drafted estate plan, is the only way to be sure that what you want to happen with your assets will happen and the right person is stepping up for you at the most crucial moment.
An Estate Plan is Essential for Unmarried Couples
Let’s walk through a scenario:
Say you are on your way to work one morning, and you are hit by another driver who was looking down at their phone while driving (we know this is an all-too-common scenario). Your car is totaled, and the paramedics believe you may have sustained a concussion in the accident. You are transported to the nearest hospital. As a result of the concussion, you find yourself unable to communicate your wishes and needs to hospital staff. Eventually, someone calls your long-term partner, and they rush to the hospital. However, they are denied entry to your room. Even though they are listed as your emergency contact in hospital records, there is no updated HIPAA Authorization in the file. That means that your medical caregivers aren’t authorized to discuss your condition with them. They are left in the waiting room, not knowing how severe your injuries may be or whether you are going to be ok. If we take the scenario a step further and presume your injuries were more severe, without an Advance Medical Directive, your doctor will not know your medical preferences, and your partner will not be able to communicate your wishes on your behalf. If it came down to it, your end-of-life preferences would not be given any credence.
While you are incapacitated at the hospital, life goes on. If the house where you live with your partner is in your name, they may have a difficult time keeping things afloat without you around. They may not be able to speak with the cable company, to pay the mortgage, to access your bank account for bills. Executing Power of Attorney is the only way that a partner will be empowered to step in as a legal and financial proxy.
To take things still another step forward, let’s say you pass away as a result of your injuries in the hospital. You have no Will or Revocable Living Trust, so the duties of managing your estate fall to your next of kin, likely a parent. Suddenly, it seems to your partner like your relationship meant nothing at all: They are not included in decisions about your funeral arrangements, they can’t access your assets to wrap up your affairs, they may even be asked to leave the home where you both lived because they have no legal claim to it.
Making Sure Children are a Part of the Plan
The stakes can become even higher if you have children from outside of a partnership. Whether your children are minors (for whom guardianship and an ongoing relationship with your partner are important to manage) or adults (whose financial and inheritance interests must be balanced with your partner’s), a comprehensive estate plan is the only way to go. You can use your Will to express guardianship preferences for minor children and to include your nonmarital partner in inheriting assets from your estate. A Revocable Living Trust can offer even more control. You can provide specifically for the needs of your partner and those of your children, you can pass ownership of big things (like your home) directly to your partner, and you even can include contingencies for the future (such as, your partner shall remain in control of the home until his passing, at which time it will transfer for the benefit of your children).
Don’t “Wait and See” Until it’s Too Late
The main thing is, your estate plan should be as unique and special as the relationship you share with your partner. Your family structure and marital status should have no bearing on the safety and security of your loved ones. Unfortunately, without an estate plan, the ones you love most can end up going through hardship and losing out. At Wakefield Law, we take the time to get to know our clients and their unique lives. We don’t use run-of-the-mill, generic documents like you might find online. Our experienced team sits down with each of our of clients individually, takes a close look at your unique circumstances and preferences, and carefully tailors an estate plan just for you. Things might change in the future? Of course they will! That’s why we continue to work with our clients long after their initial documents are drafted. We get your estate plan up and running now (because you never know when you might need it), and then we support its continued growth and evolution as your family changes over time. Ready to get started? Give our office a call at (703) 771-9740.