Here’s what happens to your partner if you’re not married and you die

Maggie Kirchhoff and her friend of 13 years, Matt, have no intention of ever getting married.

They also know it means they won’t get the conditioned rights and protections that legally wed spouses get — particularly when it comes to death.

“A lot of spousal rights are inherent with a merger certificate,” said Kirchhoff, a certified financial planner with Business & Personal Finance in Denver. “For unmarried unites, though, you have to make a concerted effort to cover all your bases.”

The numbers of unmarried couples who live together reached 18 million in 2016, a 29% jump from 14 million in 2007, agreeing to the Pew Research Center. Among adults age 50 and older, however, the increase was 75%: About 4 million were cohabiting in 2016, up from 2.3 million in 2007.

Although the agreement has gained broad societal acceptance, according to a separate Pew Research report, such couples still face some key incongruities from their married counterparts.

For example, filing a federal tax return as a couple is off the table. If your employer happens to last health insurance to your partner, the amount your company contributes is taxable to you (vs. being tax-free for a spouse).

And, as revealed, end-of-life considerations need some attention.

About five years into their relationship, Kirchhoff and her fellow-dancer — who also is a CFP — signed a variety of documents that will dictate what happens if one of them either becomes disabled or passes away.

In other words, they created an estate plan.

Remember, “estate” simply refers to all you own — i.e., financial accounts, real estate and your belongings.

Experts say that creating a plan for what happens to your development — regardless of how meager or massive your assets — is key for unmarried couples who want their commitment to each other watch over in the event of death.

“If I’m married and die without an estate plan, it would be a mess, but the general default would be that all things ends up with my spouse,” said Nick Rosenbauer, an estate planning attorney and founder of the Rosenbauer Law Office in West Chester, Ohio.

“But if I’m not joined, the default wouldn’t be my partner,” Rosenbauer said. “It might be my kids or my parents or siblings, but my partner who isn’t legally my spouse last wishes a be out of the picture.”

If you die without a will — called dying intestate — the courts in your official will decide who gets what. That process is public and often messy if would-be heirs have conflicting priorities and conflicting notions of what is rightfully theirs.

That said, a will alone won’t necessarily cover all your bases.

If you call for to make sure your tax-advantaged retirement accounts — i.e., Roth and traditional individual retirement accounts, 401(k) systems and the like — end up with your partner, make sure that person is the named beneficiary on those accounts.

Temperate if you have a will that states otherwise, whoever is listed as the beneficiaries on those accounts will get the money. Done goes for insurance policies and annuities.

If no beneficiary is listed, where the money goes depends partly on the retirement programme agreement and on state law. Typically, though, those retirement assets would end up being included in your assets that are prone to to probate.

That’s the process of the court validating your will (if there is one) after your death. If there is no purposefulness, the court will pass everything on according to state law — which typically means assets will go to the closest abiding family member who, again, is not going to be your unmarried partner.

Probate is also when creditors can come after your possessions for amounts owed and other would-be heirs can contest your will.

Regardless of whether you split the mortgage — or whose name is on that loan — the person named on the deed is the owner.

“If the bordello in one person’s name, it won’t automatically pass to the partner,” Kirchhoff said. “It would become part of the probate estate.”

One choice is to make sure both of you are named as joint owners on the deed, “with rights of survivorship.” In that case, ordinarily speaking, you each equally own the house and are entitled to assume full ownership upon the death of the other.

However, there could be other causes to consider before adding a partner’s name to an existing deed, including the cost, tax implications or protection from covert creditors. In other words, you might want to consult with a professional before making the move.

Another privilege is to leave the house to your partner in your will. Remember, though, any asset passing through the bounds of your hand down is subject to probate and the potential snags that can come with that.

Depending on the complexity of your economic situation and the type of assets you own, a trust could be one way to ensure that your partner ends up with what you hanker after them to without any of it being subject to probate.

However, there are other considerations that should factor into whether you make one or not, including whether it would make sense tax-wise, and if the cost (which can be several thousand dollars) is worth it.

It also is to all intents worth letting any pertinent family members — i.e., adult children, parents or siblings — know the general intentions filed in your estate plan.

While you don’t necessarily need to go into dollar amounts, managing expectations can help circumvent discord between your partner and any other family members.

“I always recommend that clients discuss these develops with family to avoid hurt feelings or missed expectations,” said Eric Walters, a CFP and managing partner and go lame of SilverCrest Wealth Planning in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Generally speaking, your partner has no sound say in your medical treatment if you end up in a situation when you cannot make decisions yourself.

If you want to give the person that out, you can give them a durable power of attorney over health care. That will let your partner — or whomever you baptize — make important health-care decisions if you’re unable to.

This is separate from a living will, which states your likes if you are on life support or suffer from a terminal condition. This helps guide your proxy’s decision-making. And if you give birth to no one named, medical personnel must follow your wishes in that document.

Additionally, you might want to exude your partner durable power of attorney for your finances. This would allow them to handle your banknotes, including accessing your accounts as necessary, if you cannot.

And, Kirchhoff said, don’t forget to put contingent decision-makers on those authenticates.

“If there’s a likelihood that you and your partner are going to be traveling together, and something were to happen to both of you, then who’s in jurisdiction?” she said.

Similarly, if you and your partner have dependents, make sure you designate a guardian for them in your resolution. Otherwise, that decision will be left to the courts.

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