Marriage marks a huge milestone, and it involves countless adjustments in many areas of your life. One area that newlyweds often overlook is estate planning. When you're embarking on a new phase in your life, the last thing you want to think about is what would happen if one of you passed away or became disabled. However, laying the right groundwork now can help you ensure your family is taken care of in the future. Here are a few tips:
• If you don't have Wills, now is the time for each of you to put one in place. This allows you to provide for each other in the way that you think is best, instead of subjecting your estate to the rules imposed by state law. • Take a look at the property each of you owns. It's important for you to know exactly what you own, and how your property is titled. For example, property that is co-owned as Joint Tenants With Right of Survivorship is not affected by your Will because it is not subject to probate. Instead, when one owner passes away, the property automatically passes to the surviving owner. • Review your beneficiary designations. You'll want to double-check your retirement accounts, life insurance policies and other assets for which you've designated a beneficiary. Is the current beneficiary still the person you want the asset to go to? If not, now is the time to make a change. Assets for whom you've designated a beneficiary are not subject to probate, so your Will does not control who receives them. • If you don't have an incapacity plan, you'll want to put one in place. Your incapacity plan is a group of documents that control who will make medical and financial decisions on your behalf in the event that you're ill or severely injured and can't take care of yourself. Without it, your spouse may need to go to court in order to get the right to take care of you and your finances in the event that you become incapacitated.
Your estate planning attorney can help you review your assets, make an assessment of your planning goals and needs, and put together a plan that's tailored to you and your spouse.
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