{"id":3918,"date":"2017-06-29T10:15:16","date_gmt":"2017-06-29T18:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ssslegalconsultancy.com\/?p=3918"},"modified":"2017-09-12T00:59:02","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T08:59:02","slug":"new-york-times-estate-planning-never-married","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ssslegalconsultancy.com\/new-york-times-estate-planning-never-married\/","title":{"rendered":"The New York Times – Estate Planning for the Never Married"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article is courtesy of The New York Times:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"b86ede71-c736-419d-b00a-f5e250aea71f-thumbnail\"<\/a>“When Adam Cooperman opened a technology consulting firm in New York City eight years ago at age 33, he also prepared a will and other legal and medical documents. \u201cIf I have all these professional matters, I should probably have my personal affairs in order, as well,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

With no spouse or children, he divided his assets equally between his parents and his brother. Partly because those relatives were 3,000 miles away in California, he gave powers such as his health care proxy, or the right to make medical decisions if he is incapable, to \u201cpeople that I valued as mentors, advisers and friends\u201d who lived nearby.<\/p>\n

Today Mr. Cooperman, still single and childless, has sold his business and is rethinking his estate plan. He might hand the nonfinancial powers, along with his assets, now in the low seven figures, to his relatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably named some friends I\u2019m not as close to anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cBut family is family.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For married couples and parents, such estate decisions are usually routine: The surviving partner and offspring get the money and the legal and medical authority.<\/p>\n

However, more and more Americans are in a position similar to that of Mr. Cooperman. According to the Pew Research Center, 20 percent of adults age 25 and older in 2012 had never married, up from 9 percent in 1960.<\/p>\n

The number of women age 40 to 44 who also have not borne children has seesawed, from 10 percent in 1976 to 20 percent in 2005 to 15 percent in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think we don\u2019t need to address these things until we\u2019re married or have children to protect,\u201d said Douglas A. Boneparth, a partner at the financial planning firm Life and Wealth Planning in New York City, who specializes in millennials. \u201cBut the need to spell these things out can be greater for someone who is single, because it\u2019s not obvious who you want making these decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

When people do not specify their intentions, most state laws follow fairly rigid genealogical rules of inheritance and chew up time and money in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s better to come up with a choice, even if it\u2019s not exactly right, than not to make a choice and have your money go to distant relatives who you don\u2019t know or like,\u201d said Gary D. Altman, the founder and principal lawyer at Altman & Associates, an estate-planning law firm in Rockville, Md.<\/p>\n

Estate planning experts say the first choices as heirs are usually a longtime companion, nieces and nephews, and siblings, followed by parents, other relatives, then friends.<\/p>\n

After that list, women and older clients are particularly likely to add charities, planners say. Experts also advise wealthy clients to consider charitable bequests to reduce estate taxes. Most popular are the donor\u2019s alma mater and medical causes that affected the donor\u2019s life, although planners have seen beneficiaries like animal shelters and scholarships for firefighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s their legacy \u2014 what the client wants to be known for,\u201d said Edward W. Gjersten II, president of the Financial Planning Association, a trade group based in Denver.<\/p>\n

Determining how much to give each beneficiary is more nuanced.<\/p>\n

When she wrote her will four years ago, Mary Reilly, now 52 and the owner of the MBA Nanny, a backup babysitting service in New York, divided her approximately $400,000 in assets equally between her two sisters. She omitted her longtime boyfriend, noting that \u201chis net worth was fairly substantial.\u201d<\/p>\n

That decision became moot when the couple later split up. And as she contemplates updating her documents, Ms. Reilly said she might reduce one sister\u2019s share to around 30 percent, because \u201cshe\u2019s married, and her husband has done pretty well.\u201d She might also carve out a combined 5 to 10 percent for her three nephews, now that all are over age 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I grow my wealth, I would consider a charity or my undergrad college,\u201d Ms. Reilly added. \u201cBut not Columbia Business School,\u201d where she earned her graduate degree: \u201cThey have more money than God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts disagree on whether financial beneficiaries should also have legal and medical authority, as Mr. Cooperman is considering doing.<\/p>\n

Stephanie J. Lee, founder of East Rock Financial Services, a financial advisory firm in San Francisco, warned that heirs might have difficulty coping with estate work \u201cat a time when they\u2019re grieving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawyers, accountants and bank trust officers can handle legal and financial tasks, but for sensitive medical decisions, experts suggest relatives or close friends who are geographically nearby and have enough time.<\/p>\n

Ms. Reilly gave her then-boyfriend, rather than her sisters, her health care proxy, because \u201che understood more clearly that I would not want to stay alive forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

In any case, people should review these decisions every five or so years, according to estate-planning experts.<\/p>\n

For now, Andrea Reichenbach, 39, a New York marketer, named her parents and brother as the beneficiaries of assets she calls \u201cmodest by New York standards\u201d and gave her brother her health care proxy.<\/p>\n

If her life changes, \u201cI would be thrilled to go to my lawyer and say, \u2018I have a partner and I want to adjust my will,\u2019\u201d Ms. Reichenbach said, laughing. \u201cBut why would I wait for that?\u201d-“<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is courtesy of The New York Times:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,7,11,60],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe New York Times - Estate Planning for the Never Married - SSS Legal & Consultancy Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The New York Times - Estate Planning for the Never Married\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ssslegalconsultancy.com\/new-york-times-estate-planning-never-married\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The New York Times - Estate Planning for the Never Married - SSS Legal & Consultancy Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The New York Times - 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