In the best case scenario, both you and your spouse are on the same page about the importance of estate planning and the strategies and people involved in that process. It’s not always the case that both people, however, are on that same page.
Married couples and single individuals should all have comprehensive estate plans crafted for their needs but what happens if one member of a married couple is interested in finally completing the estate planning process but the other isn’t. It’s difficult for some people to acknowledge some of the challenging decisions to be made around passing on your assets or deciding who will step in to make decisions on your behalf if you are incapable of doing so. This is not an unusual situation because many people put estate planning off as long as they can.
Estate plans are very personal to individuals although it is very much the truth that married couples often have their finances, retirement plans and estate plans tied up together. If you are one member of a couple who wants to complete your estate planning, even though it is not ideal to leave out the other spouse, it can still be beneficial for your loved ones to sit down and create your estate planning process on your own.
Interests don’t always coincide for married couples so you can still benefit from having an estate plan documented with the help of an attorney. It is possible that overtime your spouse might change their mind and decide to participate in the estate planning process and this can be helpful but do not count on it now if you have the opportunity to create your own plan.
Our Pasadena estate firm can help you.
