Real life situations involving married couples are often more complicated than anyone anticipates. Estate planning attorneys see it every day — situations that seemed straightforward on the surface that became genuinely complicated because a plan was not in place.
If you are married and do not have an estate plan, this video is for you.
Why Marriage Makes Estate Planning More Urgent
Marriage changes your legal relationship with your assets, your debts, your healthcare decisions, and your estate. In California, much of what you and your spouse earn and acquire during marriage is community property, owned equally by both of you by default. When one spouse passes away, what happens to that community property depends entirely on what planning you have in place.
Without a trust or will, California’s intestate succession laws determine what your spouse receives and what goes to other family members. The result may be very different from what either of you would have chosen.
The Situations No One Plans For
Estate planning attorneys see situations constantly that married couples never imagined when they started their lives together. A spouse becomes incapacitated unexpectedly and the other spouse has no legal authority to access a separately-held account. A couple assumes that everything goes to the surviving spouse automatically, but one asset has an old beneficiary designation naming a family member from a prior relationship. A blended family discovers after a death that stepchildren have no legal inheritance rights despite years of being treated as family.
None of these situations are rare. They happen in communities throughout the Inland Empire regularly. And most of them are entirely preventable with a properly structured estate plan.
What Married Couples Need
A complete estate plan for a married couple in California typically includes a joint revocable living trust, pour-over wills for both spouses, durable powers of attorney for finances, and healthcare directives for both. Together these documents cover what happens during incapacity and at death, and they give each spouse the legal authority to act on behalf of the other when it matters most.
The Sooner the Better
There is no bad time to put an estate plan in place, but there is a moment when it becomes too late. Most couples who call an estate planning attorney after a crisis wish they had called before one.
Call Heather Lynn Law at (909) 347-7277 or contact us online to schedule a consultation for you and your spouse. Se habla espanol.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
