Pride month estate planning
People from the LGBTQ community have worked hard to have their relationships and gender identities acknowledged. Laws and attitudes continue to evolve to provide more protections. However, limitations still exist, including in the area of estate planning.
If you have no estate plan, every state provides default rules to determine who would receive your assets when you die, and in some cases who might be responsible for your care if you are incapacitated. Of course, these default rules do not always reflect the diverse families that exist today.
Typically, these laws require that assets go to a surviving spouse, then to biological or formally adopted children, if any, otherwise to parents, siblings and so on. So, unless you are married or have biological or adopted children, without an estate plan your assets will revert to your family of origin. These people may or may not have been accepting of you. Further, you might be raising children with a partner and have never formally adopted those children. Without an estate plan, you may have difficulty securing their future should something happen to you. An estate plan also allows you to benefit the individuals and causes that have added meaning to and helped to shape your life.
If you are a transgender person, you may be concerned about family members planning funerals or memorial services without recognizing your true gender identity. Your estate planning documents allow you to spell out how you wish to be remembered and name individuals you trust to carry out your wishes.
In the same vain, estate planning documents can operate to ensure that those you trust will take care of you and your assets should you ever become incapacitated. You may be living with a partner for years and fall ill and without advance planning, your partner may not be entitled to be there for you in your time of need. Instead, default laws might require a physician to reach out to a parent or sibling with whom you have not been in contact and may not know your wishes.
Finally, failing to plan your estate is costly.
For example, in California, attorney’s fees in Probate Court on a $1,000,000 estate (which is low if you own a home) are $23,000. Everything is based on the gross value of the estate, meaning regardless of mortgages.
You can address these and many more issues with a comprehensive estate plan. Your estate plan can include:
Trusts to facilitate asset transfer and avoid probate court.
A Last Will and Testament to name guardians in case one or both partners die, and to transfer assets to your trust and avoid a full probate.
A Power of Attorney to name an agent to manage assets in case of incapacity and detail memorial and funeral plans.
An Advanced Health Care Directive to provide guidance about the care you wish to receive and who makes care decisions for you if you cannot.
These are the building blocks of a comprehensive estate plan. An estate plan is designed to take care of and protect you and those you love, regardless of your gender, sexuality, or marital status.
Tresp, Day & Associates provides nationally recognized asset protection and estate planning to everyone, no matter your race, gender, orientation, or identity; we can consult with you on the best way to protect your real estate investments. We offer in-person appointments and face-to-face consultations utilizing video conferencing technologies such as FaceTime, Duo, and Zoom.