10 Benefits of Estate Planning for Same Sex Couples

• Peace of mind.  Estate planning is a difficult task for anyone.  But for same-sex couples, it’s a special challenge.  You’ll know that you’ve done everything legally possible to protect each others’ rights.


• Tax benefits. When a married person dies, his or her spouse is protected under the law, and a martial deduction is in place that minimizes taxes on the estate. Same-sex couples don’t enjoy that same benefit.  But careful estate planning with a lawyer experiences in estate planning for gay couples can let you minimize the tax burden a great deal.  An experience lawyer will know how to set up wills and estates to keep the estate tax from wiping out everything you’ve worked for.


• Funeral planning. When a married person dies, the surviving spouse is automatically legally able to plan deceased person’s funeral and final arrangements. The surviving partner in a same-sex couple has no such right.  They are not legally recognized as a partner or spouse, so the deceased person’s nearest relative will have the right to make these final plans. If a will is carefully worded, however, these rights can be given to the remaining partner.


• Long-term care. Often, questions of estates come up long before a person’s death.  When someone must be admitted into a nursing home, for instance.  Estate planning that leaves room for this possibility can help preserve the ability of same-sex couples to make decisions on each others’ behalf.


• Children’s care. Estate planning can help provide for any children raised by the same-sex couple.  If the partner who is not the biological or adoptive parent dies, he or she might wish to leave some or all of the estate to the child.  This won’t happen automatically as it might in a legally married relationship.


• Rights to see children. If the person who is the biological parent dies, estate planning can protect the other partner’s right to have contact with any children.  Without documents that instill this right to the person, he or she has no legal claim to the child and can be legally denied visitation by whomever becomes the child’s guardian.


• Joint bank accounts. The contents of these would automatically go to the remaining spouse in a marriage.  But it takes estate planning to ensure that they go to the surviving partner in a same-sex relationship.


• Hospital visitation. Estate planning can ensure that one person can visit another in hospital.  Without it, a person may be denied the right to see their partner.


• General preparedness. There are no guarantees when it comes to our health.  If one person should become incapacitated for whatever reason, estate planning can ensure that the other person is assigned the rights that a person in a legal marriage would be given automatically.

Finally, if you have completed your estate planning and the laws change, as they often do in this area, you can quickly implement changes to your wills and estates to ensure that you’re protected.