What if the healthy spouse dies first?
As we live longer, it is increasingly common to find a healthy spouse providing a significant level of care at home for an ill spouse. Although the expectation is that the healthy spouse will outlive the ill spouse, that is not always the case. Since the ill spouse cannot live at home without the well spouse, what steps can be taken to protect the couples’ asset base if the healthy spouse dies first?
- Retitle most family assets so that they are owned by the healthy spouse.
- Change the Will of the healthy spouse to provide that on his/her death the assets pass directly to the children or to an “income only” trust for the ill spouse.
We would be pleased to meet with you, discuss your specific family and financial circumstances, and, if appropriate, prepare the documents needed to implement this important type of protection for your assets.