Estate Planning Questions to Consider for Couples with an Age Gap

Estate planning is important for couples, particularly for couples with age gaps. A bulletproof estate plan can help you reduce your tax liability, preserve your family’s wealth, and protect the interests of your partner and loved ones. Before you start your estate planning journey, seek answers to the following questions.

What Are Your Views on Employment?

A job not only keeps you busy, but it also generates income, allowing you to meet your expenses. If both of you are working currently and one or both of you decide to stop working or retire in the near future, your lifestyle may change. If you haven’t created a retirement corpus, now is the right time to start saving for retirement.

In case both you and your partner want to retire early, and you want to spend your free time traveling while your spouse plans to start a business, there may be some conflict. It is, therefore, important that you sit down and talk things through.

How Will You Manage Your Finances?

Retiring means losing a regular source of income. For many people who retire early, their retirement fund provides a large portion of the money they will live on during retirement. This, however, takes a lot of advanced planning. Think about these questions and figure out ways to achieve financial security.

• When do you plan to retire? If the answer is ‘soon,’ meet your financial planner to discuss ways to get your financial house in order.
• Will there be a time when both of you won’t be working? If so, will you have enough income to support your lifestyle during this period?
• Does the younger spouse plan to use the funds from the older spouse’s retirement fund? If so, is there enough money in the retirement fund?
• Have you decided when to withdraw the required minimum contributions from your retirement accounts? If not, talk to an estate planning attorney in Sonoma County. An experienced estate planning attorney will assess your current and future needs and help you develop an effective withdrawal strategy.

Your estate plan can help ensure your loved ones are taken care of. If you do not create an estate plan, a court may decide on your behalf. As a result, your assets may be divided in a way the court determines appropriate, not in accordance with your wishes.

Once you are ready to create your estate plan, consider these questions.

• Who do you want to make decisions on your or your spouse’s behalf if you or they become mentally incapacitated? Consider naming a standby as well.
• Do you want to pass on your assets to your children? If so, do you want your assets to be available to your children immediately after your death, or after your spouse’s death?
• Do you have children from your current and past relationships? If so, do you want all your children to be treated the same?

The Johnston & Associates team is comprised of seasoned estate planning attorneys. Our attorneys are equipped to help individuals create one-of-a-kind, personalized estate plans. To talk to a legal expert, call 707-545-6542.