Many married couples wonder why they need an estate plan if they have no children and already hold all of their assets jointly. The answer is two-fold: you need to plan for what happens to your assets when both of you die, and more importantly, you need to plan for what happens on either of you becoming incapacitated. Whether it be a will or revocable living trust, you should have some sort of plan prepared.

When we work with married couples who do not have children, we stress the importance of creating an estate plan to have a proper distribution of your assets in place. This could mean designating who should receive your house (if you have property) or even designating who should receive your personal property such as your jewelry, furniture, or special baseball card collection. If you do not have a proper estate plan in place, then this could mean that your estate would go through probate. Probate is the court-supervised distribution of your estate, and in California, it can be both costly and time-consuming.

Additionally, as was noted in the Wall Street Journal article the danger of leaving everything to your spouse upon your death, is that if they die without having an estate plan in place as well, your family would not receive any of your assets. Instead, it would go to your spouse’s heirs at law (this would mean their parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, etc.) as would be determined during the probate process.

The second part of the advice given to married couples with no children is to properly plan for what could happen if either spouse becomes incapacitated. This would include preparing documents such as a Power of Attorney for financial matters, and an Advance Health Care Directive for health-related matters. These documents would allow either your spouse (or if your spouse is incapacitated, other trusted individuals) to continue paying the bills or know how to make end-of-life decisions.

We understand how difficult it can be to have these discussions, but it is always best to have them together. Feel free to give us a call for a complimentary consultation to see how we can best prepare a plan that works for you. 818-956-9200

Glendale Location

616 E. Glenoaks Boulevard, Suite 203

Glendale, CA 91207

Sherman Oaks Location

15303 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 900

Sherman Oaks, CA 91403