Getting married is always an exciting era in a couple’s life; many new things and experiences come with it. Among those things should be the estate-planning conversation. Estate planning for married couples is just as important as any other topic because it is better to be safe than to be sorry. Here are some excellent concerns to keep in mind while speaking with a professional about estate planning.
- The first question, and the hardest, should be, what should take place in the event that one of us passes away?
Aside from discussing if a prenup is in the plan for your marriage, there are a couple of other questions about what the next steps would be if anything unexpected were to happen. During this conversation, you may talk about whether you want the person who survived to have total control over your assets or if you want to put certain safeguards in place to ensure that your children inherit money at some time after your passing. The question, in this case, involves whether the surviving partner marries again. In this case, the children would not receive any inheritance at all. You could wish to set up some arrangements such that the spouse who survives receives the deceased spouse’s share in a trust to be used for the remaining years of their life, and that when the surviving spouse dies, the assets will go directly to the children.
Many families take the second option since it is the way to keep assets safe for future children.
- Who will truly see to it that our estate plan follows through once we pass away?
You will need to name a representative to ensure that your estate is handled according to what you have specified in your estate plan after passing away. It doesn’t matter if you refer to that individual as an operator or trustee. You could have someone in mind who is dependable with money and gets along well with your kids.
- Speaking about kids, another question is: Should we leave the kids everything following the two of us pass away?
The most frequent response to this question, and what most couples decide to do, is for everything to be divided equally among their children, but there are also scenarios in which families desire to support their grandchildren or give particular assets to a certain child out of sentimentality. Every family has different points of view on this, but the most common decision is to divide equally between their kids.
These are all good questions to start planning your future with a loved one by your side. At Legacy Counsel, we can ensure you and your future family are taken care of when the time comes. Schedule a session here.
