LGBTQ

It is our honor to serve LGBTQ clients, and those planning to leave assets to LGBTQ beneficiaries.

For Unmarried LGBTQ Couples

In so many ways, estate planning is the most important for you when you are not married but have a life partner in your life. And, if you have children together, it’s exponentially more important for you to get your estate planning handled correctly.

The law does not protect your love if you are not married, period.

You have to take action yourself to ensure you will have access to your loved one’s hospital bedside, and that your unmarried loved one will have access to you, if you are hospitalized.  Further, action must be taken to ensure that if anything happens to you or your loved one, your children are protected.

If you do not take action, it’s very likely that the person you love most in the world could be blocked from being with you in an accident, or making health care decisions for you, or deciding what you are nourished with, or who gets to see you.

And, that’s just your healthcare. Without the protection of estate planning, the person you love most in the world could be thrown out of your house, ejected from your business, or locked out of your finances.

If you have children together, they could even be taken out of your partner’s care.

Estate planning when you are unmarried isn’t optional. It’s truly essential for the people you love most.

For LGBTQ Married Couples

When you are married with children, estate planning is usually pretty straightforward and probably the last thing on your mind. You want your spouse making decisions for you if you are incapacitated, and you want to make sure your assets go to your spouse when you die, and then to your children after your spouse is gone. Seems simple, right?

Unfortunately, it is not.  If it was that simple our probate courts wouldn’t be clogged with the impact of the complexity of money and family. And, there wouldn’t be $58 Billion (with a B) of assets in the State Departments of Unclaimed Property across the United States.

There are a myriad of questions that need to be answered to ensure your family stays out of court, and out of conflict, in the event of your incapacity or death. And, some tactical specifics that need to happen to ensure your assets don’t end up lost to the State Department of Unclaimed Property because your family overlooks something when you can’t be there to guide them.

Plus, if you are in a marriage situation with children from a prior marriage (we call this a “blended family”), it’s highly likely (some would even say it’s an almost guarantee) that the people you love will end up in conflict if you don’t plan ahead.

Most of all, your wealth isn’t measured just by the dollars in your bank account, but by the well-being of the people you love. You care enough to get your estate planning handled so your family can stay out of court and out of conflict, no matter what.