Estate Planning for Life Partners

Implement your estate wishes for you and your life partner.

No matter where you live, but especially if you live in Texas, and you are gay or lesbian in a committed relationship, you should know what will happen to your partner if something happens to you.  Most important for same sex couples or life partners (even if “married” under the laws of another state) to know is that if they have not taken the time to properly plan their estates, primarily because they are not considered related to their partner, they will have none of the rights that a legally married couple has with regard to these issues.  The issues are further complicated if the couple adopts a child, or if one of the partners has a biological child that they will raise together or if one or both of the partners has biological children from a previous marriage or relationship.

In my experience, same sex couples have many issues to be concerned about that may not apply to a traditional family – will they have the right to visit their partner in the hospital when he or she is sick? who will have the right to make decisions for their partner when their partner is unable to make either health or financial decisions due to incapacity or illness? who retains custody of the child(ren)? who can or will make funeral arrangements for a deceased partner? and can they inherit property from their partner upon the partner's death? 

Through proper estate planning the answer to these questions is yes. Call today to make your appointment.