Why Estate Planning Is Essential For Unmarried Couples In California

For many California couples, marriage has become a burden, a luxury, or a distant possibility. With more people waiting longer to marry (or choosing not to marry at all) it’s important to consider how your relationship status could affect your legal and financial rights, especially in the event of a tragedy. This article provides a detailed guide on:

• The consequences of not being married as a couple in various situations.
• What happens to an unmarried partner when the other passes away without an estate plan in place.
• The estate planning tools can help make up for being unmarried.

Can My Unmarried Partner Make Medical Decisions For Me In California Without A Legally Executed Advance Healthcare Directive?

In some situations, an unmarried partner may be allowed to make medical decisions for their companion. If medical staff are seeking informed consent and you have been introduced as the life partner, especially when other family members are deferring to you, the situation is unlikely to become contentious. In those cases, doctors will often allow you to move forward with making decisions.

However, this is far from certain and may not apply in more complex or emotionally difficult situations. The most reliable way to ensure your partner has the authority to act on your behalf is by having a properly executed Advance Health Care Directive. With this legal document in place, there is far less room for confusion or disagreement.

If a family member disagrees with your partner, doctors may not know who to listen to or trust. In one well-known case from Florida, Terri Schiavo remained on life support for seven years while the courts tried to determine whether her husband or her parents should be the ones making decisions. And in that case, the couple was legally married.

When an Advance Health Care Directive is prepared correctly, it removes that uncertainty – unless the document itself is unclear or contradictory. This is why it is strongly recommended to work with an experienced estate planning attorney when creating one.

This kind of planning is even more important when the person you trust to make medical decisions is not a family member. In the absence of legal instructions, medical professionals tend to default to next of kin. If you want your unmarried partner or a trusted friend to make those decisions instead (or if you want to prevent certain family members from being involved) then having an Advance Health Care Directive is essential.

This document ensures that your wishes are followed and that the right person has the legal authority to make medical decisions on your behalf.

What Happens If I Don’t Name My Unmarried Partner In My California Will Or Trust?

If you are not married to your partner, they are going to be left out of your inheritance if you pass away without some kind of will or trust. When that happens, the prevailing law is something called intestate succession, and in California, the intestate succession rules look at legally established relationships only.

The court will first look for a spouse, then children, and then past spouses and children. They will consider parents and siblings and keep branching out on your family tree from there. If you are not married and you want your partner to benefit, you have to get it documented.

Attorney Rebecca Sommer is a talented California estate planning lawyer who has helped countless couples create estate plans that match their legal and financial situation. With her background in financial services, she will help you and your partner develop plans carefully tailored to your situation, and optimized for tax purposes, regardless of whether or not you are married.

Have you built a life with someone you are not legally married to? Contact The Law Office of Rebecca Sommer today to schedule an initial consultation.

What Financial Risks Do Unmarried Couples In California Face Without An Estate Plan, Especially Regarding Shared Property And Assets?

The fate of your financial assets and property, when no estate plan is in place, depends in large part on how those assets are held. If assets are held in joint tenancy, as tenants in common, or in a jointly owned account, your partner may be able to receive them – but that depends entirely on the specific terms of ownership.

Unfortunately, things often do not go the way couples expect in these situations. Depending on how the assets are titled, they may also end up in probate. This means not only might the assets go to the wrong people, but your loved ones could also face a lengthy and costly court process to sort it out.

To avoid this, it is essential to create a thoughtful and thorough estate plan. A key part of that process is understanding how your assets are currently held and how they should be held to reflect your wishes. That way, you can ensure your assets pass to the right people and serve your intended goals, both from a legal and tax perspective.

How Does California Law Treat Unmarried Couples In Estate Disputes When No Legal Documents Are In Place?

When someone passes away without an estate plan in California, the state’s intestate succession laws apply. If there are children, they may inherit from the estate but an unmarried partner will not. Even worse, if there is any dispute among family members, your partner can easily be excluded entirely.

This is why it is so important to put your wishes in writing. If you want your partner, or anyone who is not a blood relative or legal spouse, to benefit from your estate, it has to be documented in legally enforceable estate planning documents. The law will not assume your intentions, no matter how long you were together or how close your relationship was.

This principle applies not only to unmarried couples but also to anyone who wants to leave something to a friend or chosen family member. Without proper documentation, the law will follow default rules—and those rules are unlikely to reflect your personal wishes.

What Happens To Our Shared Assets If One Of Us Passes Away Without A Plan?

The way your assets are held plays a major role in determining what happens to them after death. Without a will or other legal plan in place, you could end up with an asset that is partially owned by your partner and partially owned by your blood relatives. In that case, they would be required to work together to manage or divide the asset, which may or may not go smoothly.

In some cases, the asset may pass entirely to your partner, depending on how it is titled. Certain forms of ownership, such as joint tenancy with right of survivorship, are designed to transfer the asset to the surviving owner automatically. However, it’s important to note that not all assets you think are shared will actually transfer that way.

For example, consider Individual Retirement Accounts or 401(k)s. If your partner is not specifically named as the beneficiary on the account, that money will go to your family—not your partner.

To truly protect shared assets, you need to have a comprehensive estate plan. That plan should address not only what you own but also how each asset is owned. Only by understanding both can you ensure your documents are set up to transfer everything according to your wishes.

How Is The Estate Planning Process Different, Or Similar, For Unmarried Couples In California?

The estate planning process for unmarried couples is actually quite similar to that for married couples in terms of structure. However, the options available and the legal constraints involved are not always the same.

For example, federal tax treatment and trust structures may differ. Some planning scenarios require even more attention to detail, especially when it comes to naming the right individuals in key documents. In some cases, it may also be important to specifically name people who should not be included in decisions or who should be excluded from receiving benefits.

There are also planning considerations that have little to do with family ties. For instance, what happens if your partner who was meant to inherit your assets passes away before you? In that situation, you may want your assets to go to close friends or to a charitable organization.

Those kinds of preferences need to be clearly spelled out in your plan, since they are very different from what would happen under California’s default intestate succession rules, which prioritize blood relatives.

Another key difference involves how to structure your estate plan. Should each partner have their own separate trust?

In many cases, that makes more sense, especially since unmarried couples are not subject to California’s community property rules. Even jointly owned assets remain separate property in this context, which can have important implications for taxes, liability, and asset protection.

For these reasons, a joint trust might not be the best choice for an unmarried couple, even if they have been together for years. From a tax perspective, unmarried couples also do not have access to certain benefits available to married spouses, such as the unlimited marital deduction. These limitations make it even more important for unmarried couples to structure their plans carefully and intentionally.

For more information on Estate planning for unmarried couples in California, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (657) 210-3722 today.