Legalizing gay marriage did solve most of estate problems for same-sex couples. When the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a Constitutional right to get married, many problems those couples faced were finally resolved. For the first time, gay couples had legal protections in case one of them passed away. The laws of intestate succession would protect them, in case they did not have an estate plan. Couples were also given more rights to
People who are opposed to eliminating the estate tax are often seen as wanting to do nothing more than to punish the wealthy. However, some of them are more concerned about the impact that estate tax repeal could have on charities. At first glance, it might not seem like there is much of a relationship between the existence of the estate tax and charities. The former takes money from the wealthiest estates involuntarily and uses
It is not enough to get an estate plan once and leave it alone for all time. It needs to be constantly reviewed and updated to take account of changing circumstances. Some people can get away with getting an estate plan once and never looking at it again. If someone never gets divorced, remarried, has more children or increases assets, then the first estate plan they get might be good enough for the rest of
A surviving spouse has the right to an inheritance, in almost all circumstances. Most people do not want to cut their spouses out of their estate plan. However, there are some people who have built up a lifetime’s worth of grievances, have not gotten a divorce and who do try to disinherit their spouses. This used to be a much bigger problem, when divorces were more difficult to obtain. However, the issue still persists today.
Many elderly women are not fully prepared for what might happen after their spouses pass away. We live in an age where, at least on a legal level, men and women are treated equally. Women can now enjoy a far greater range of possibilities than their ancestors would have ever imagined. However, just because the law says one thing, does not mean that each individual woman fully enjoys its advantages. Even today, many women defer
