Estate Planning For Unmarried Co-Parents

Everyone should plan for the future when it comes to distributing their assets. Estate planning involves many complex family law issues including wills, designation of beneficiaries, ownership of property and power of attorney. Some estate law issues are particularly important for parents to address such designating guardians for minor children and providing for children in the case of one or both parents’ deaths.

This type of family law is fairly clear-cut in most cases if the parents are married. However, estate planning becomes somewhat more complex for unmarried co-parents. It’s essential to have a good financial planner and family law attorney if you are unmarried co-parents. You do not want to have any unfortunate surprises in the event of you or your partner’s death. You’ll want to ensure that you, your partner and all of your children are protected.

Unfortunately, most family law favors married parents. The laws are significantly more complex when it comes to unmarried couples and estate planning. A good family law attorney can advise you on the issues you’ll need to address which include titling for accounts and property. Accounts can be created in a variety of ways and each has its own advantages and drawbacks.

A fundamental part of estate planning is creating a retirement plan. It takes careful planning to make sure that the right individuals are designated as beneficiaries and receive the benefits from the plan. You will also want to make sure that you set up a plan in a way that limits the amount of taxes the beneficiary has to pay. It’s important to set the plan up right, especially if you are unmarried, because once you are gone, your partner will be powerless to make changes if the plan isn’t created properly.

You’re probably aware of many other issues that are an important part of family law and estate planning. These include power of attorney, wills, health care directives and other important issue. You’ll want to ensure that it’s clear who the guardians of your children are so that they are protected. All these issues are important and it’s essential that you work with a good family law attorney to protect your family.