Should you consider having separate estate plans with your spouse? Depending upon your circumstances, it may be advisable for a couple to engage separate legal counsel to assist with their individual estate plans.
Consider the following questions:
- Do you or your spouse have children from a prior marriage or relationship? If yes, is there any tension between you and your spouse when discussing how you would want your accounts and property divided?
- Did one of you bring far more money or property into the marriage?
- Do you and your spouse have very different ideas about philanthropic goals in your estate planning?
- If you have a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, do you now want to change the terms of that agreement through an amendment or through your estate plan?
A good rule of thumb is that if there are aspects of your financial and family relationship that will likely cause severe contention and misunderstanding between you and your spouse, you could consider using separate counsel to help negotiate and resolve the legal and estate planning issues that intersect with these problem areas.
On the other hand, for those who are willing to communicate and resolve their differences, it may be possible to jointly engage legal counsel to assist with your Oklahoma estate plan. One of the advantages of jointly hiring legal counsel is that the attorney can act in some ways as a mediator and educator, helping you identify and craft creative solutions to challenges.
Additionally, jointly hiring legal counsel tends to be a less expensive solution and communication tends to flow much more freely when fewer individuals are involved.