Estate Planning for Married Couples

Serving Families in Vallejo and the Surrounding Area

So, you have tied the knot. Whether six months or 60 years ago, congratulations! With each marriage comes rights and new responsibilities.

Unfortunately, many married couples mistakenly believe they can make personal, health care, and financial decisions for one another should either spouse become legally incapacitated due to a serious injury or illness. Nothing could be further from reality!

Without proper estate planning for married couples to appoint your spouse as the incapacity decision-maker, he or she will not have legal authority to make even fundamental decisions for you (or affecting both of you). For example, medical privacy laws will bar access to your medical records and the ability to consult with your attending physician, financial laws limit control over your finances, and IRS regulations will prohibit filing a joint income tax return.

Unless you legally appoint the decision-maker of your own choice in advance through proper estate planning for married couples, then a probate judge will select one for you. While the judge will likely appoint your spouse, the probate court process to accomplish this is expensive, discloses your private personal and financial information to the public record and is a real hassle for your spouse.

Did you know that, in the absence of proper estate planning for married couples, your assets may be distributed after death based on “one-size-fits-all” state laws written for people who do not have their own estate plans? These laws cannot reflect your own unique circumstances and objectives for your spouse and assets.

Fortunately, we can help you avoid the unintended results and help your family avoid replace the one-size-fits-all state laws and replace them with an estate plan we design together for your unique circumstances and objectives. We even help you coordinate the beneficiary designations on your life insurance and retirement plans with your estate plan to avoid unpleasant, unintended consequences.

We can help you protect everyone you love and everything you have. Call us at 707-553-7356.