Around 44 percent of U.S. households are comprised of unmarried couples. Unfortunately, the law does not provide for your partner upon death like it would if you were married. That means that anything you’d leave behind would go to any children you may have and then to your parents or siblings.
There are some things you can do to make sure your partner would be provided for if you were die before them.
A living trust is a way to manage your property during your lifetime and it can in some circumstances makes it easier to pass on that property upon death. A living trust avoids probate, meaning that property would pass automatically to whom you want upon death without worrying about the property being fought over in court. A living trust can also be set up so it can be revoked at any time. In some states, the tax benefits of using a living trust make them very attractive and a living trust can help you avoid the probate costs of other states. In Texas, these tax savings could also be included in a will and probating a will is not as expensive if the will has an independent executor.
Another method would be to write and execute a will. Even using a revocable will, you could have a “pour over” will, which means that any property that wasn’t in the trust before your death would transfer to the trust. This would help avoid problems with the distribution of your property as well. The trust must be identified in your will, so you will need to create the trust and write out the terms of the trust before putting in a “pour over” provision in your will.
Next, you can also designate your partner as your beneficiary on your 401(k), IRA, or any other retirement account. This allows your partner to automatically take what’s in the account. You can also name the person as a beneficiary on your life insurance, or funnel life insurance funds into your trust so there is just one stop for the person to receive the funds.
Finally, you can name your partner as your power of attorney, health care surrogate, or any other similar document which allows your partner to make major decisions for you should you become incapacitated. Otherwise, that role typically goes to a blood relative. You can limit the scope of a powers of attorney to only certain areas or if only certain conditions are met.
The Takeaway: Simply because you aren’t married does not mean you can’t make legal preparations for your significant others. A variety of methods exist to make sure your loved ones are taken care of.
– The Business Team
Scott | Josh | Jeremy
The Allen Firm, PC
181 S. Graham Street | Stephenville, Texas 76401
Ph: 254.965.3185 | Fax: 254.965.6539
The Allen Firm, PC is composed of a team of attorneys located in Stephenville, Texas. Our mission is to improve people’s lives by providing reliable and practical help with their legal matters while operating under our values of honoring people, operating with integrity and striving for excellence. We offer help in forming businesses or companies, estate planning, lawsuits, real estate, probate, oil and gas, collections, agriculture, bankruptcy, family law, and accident and injuries.