Health & Fitness
Do I really need estate planning if I'm happy to leave everything to my spouse and children?
Ask Roxy is a public service blog from the Law Offices of Roxanne Sher Olson (www.roxanneolson.com). Roxanne is an attorney in Santa Cruz, CA. Email your questions to askroxy@roxanneolson.com
State law provides a set of rules that apply when someone dies without a Will. In California, when a married person dies without a Will their “community property” (marital assets) will go to their spouse and their “separate property” (assets that belong to only them) will be divided 1/2 to their spouse and 1/2 to be shared evenly among their children. Sounds great right? Who needs to write up a Will, or even worse, pay a lawyer thousands of dollars to do an “estate plan” when they’re happy enough to have the default apply?
Well, my friends, the devil is in the details with this one and when I mean details, I mean YOUR details. Your details may be pretty today. Let’s say (just for kicks) that you’re the "typical" American family: 2 healthy married adults madly in love, 2.5 cute kids with no disabilities (for now we’re going to say that your son’s unquenchable potty mouth is not early onset tourettes), a house with a white picket fence and no termites, and some big, fluffy, friendly-type dog that doesn’t shed but might lick you to death. Sound like you so far?
State law provides a set of rules that apply when someone dies without a Will. In California, when a married person dies without a Will their “community property” (marital assets) will go to their spouse and their “separate property” (assets that belong to only them) will be divided 1/2 to their spouse and 1/2 to be shared evenly among their children. Sounds great right? Who needs to write up a Will, or even worse, pay a lawyer thousands of dollars to do an “estate plan” when they’re happy enough to have the default apply?
Well, my friends, the devil is in the details with this one and when I mean details, I mean YOUR details. Your details may be pretty today. Let’s say (just for kicks) that you’re the "typical" American family: 2 healthy married adults madly in love, 2.5 cute kids with no disabilities (for now we’re going to say that your son’s unquenchable potty mouth is not early onset tourettes), a house with a white picket fence and no termites, and some big, fluffy, friendly-type dog that doesn’t shed but might lick you to death. Sound like you so far?
TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST AND MY LEGAL DISCLAIMER GO TO WWW.ASK-ROXY.COM.
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here
