Estate planning for married gay couples
According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), it is estimated that 3.3% of the UK population aged 16 and over identified as lesbian, male lover or bisexual in 2022, an expand from 2.1% in 2017.
Find out more on sexual orientation data here
Whilst sexuality, as such, is not a key consideration when estate planning, it is crucial for lgbtq+ couples to hand thought to some fundamental issues to ensure their assets are distributed according to their wishes. So, what should queer couples consider when it comes to estate planning?
In England and Wales, IHT exemptions and allowances for same-sex couples are broadly the same as for opposite-sex couples, provided they are married or in a civil partnership.
Generally speaking, transfers of assets between spouses or civil partners are exempt from IHT, both during their lifetime and upon death. This means that under the terms of a Will, one spouse or partner can pass on their entire estate, regardless of value, to the other without any IHT implications.
As well as exempt transfers between spouses or partners, married couples and civil partners have the ability to relocate any unused portion of their nil-rate band (NRB) and re
Trust and Estate Planning Strategies for LGBTQ Couples
This creates an important need for LGBTQ financial planning.
And while the barrier to marriage has been lifted, several years later 42% of same-sex households remain unmarried. This compares to opposite-sex couples, where fewer than 12% are unmarried partners.
Now factor in that many Americans pass away without a will, including those who are LGBTQ, the need for trust and estate planning becomes an even larger point of consideration within LGBTQ planning.
The decision to marry your partner is a personal choice, regardless of the law or if you are lesbian, gay, double attraction, transgender or queer. This decision, though, does modify your financial life especially if you choose not to get married. The good news is that you can take rule of some financial matters on your own by implementing some of the following strategies.
LGBTQ Couples Can Protect Their Financial Interests
In your relationship, you may already be commingling your financial affairs. You may even eventually entrust your partner in all things financial. But this promise level also adds potential complexity when it comes to issues like future estate plann
5 wealth planning considerations for LGBTQ+ individuals and families
Even with marriage equality and other expanding legal protections, LGBTQ+ individuals and couples may encounter a range of issues clear from those of the general population when it comes to wealth planning. Family dynamics, marital status and a desire to assist the LGBTQ+ people can affect potential charitable and estate planning choices. Ensuring the estate arrange accurately reflects one’s specific intentions may require close and frequent consultation with advisors and attorneys. And financial privacy, a priority for most wealthy individuals and families, may be especially vital. Those and other factors may include complexity to the process of craſting a flexible, operative estate plan. Here are five planning considerations to save in mind.
Starting a family
Kim Stolz, a Private Client Advisor for Bank of America Private Bank and an active member of Bank of America’s Homosexual executive council, knows firsthand the upper costs for Queer couples starting a family. “When my wife and I had our first child, we were using my egg, a sperm donor, and my wife carried the child,” Stolz says. “By the time we wel
Planning for Same-Sex Couples
Same-sex couples face unique estate planning. Since Obergefell v. Hodges, same-sex marriages have been legal in all fifty states. Living trusts are often the estate planning vehicle of choice for the gay community for a number of reasons.
1. They provide for your partner to be competent to handle your assets should you become disabled. Powers of attorney and health care proxies/living wills are ancillary documents that also help insure that your partner will be in charge of all legal, financial and medical decision-making in the event of disability, free of interference from other family members.
2. Will planning has fallen into disfavor because (a) wills are significantly easier to challenge than trusts (b) a spot of the proceeding must be given to your closest legal heirs, providing them with an opportunity to object (c) the will is a widespread record, eliminating privacy, and (d) the legal process may be time consuming, possibly delaying the surviving partner's access to needed funds.
3. Simply putting your partner's name on your assets, or joint tenancy, seems to be a simple solution to many, until they learn of the pitfalls. First, for appr
Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples Following the Respect for Marriage Act
After the unprecedented overturn of Roe v. Wade in the 2022 Supreme Court case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, other cases built on our constitutional “liberty” interests are at chance of being overturned. This includes the 2015 landmark case, Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that states are unable to forbid same-sex marriages. In response, Congress and the Biden Administration passed the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act.
But what does this signify for same-sex couples moving forward?
The Respect for Marriage Act did two essential things for same-sex married couples. First, it redefined marriage as “any marriage between two individuals that is valid under articulate law.” This removed the “opposite sex” requirement from the federal definition. Although the “opposite sex” requirement had been deemed unconstitutional in United States v. Windsor in 2013, this new definition will guard same-sex couples at the federal level, even if Windsor is overturned.
Second, the Respect for Marriage Execute forces every State to recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in other States. Thus, as long as one S