Separate Wills for Spouses: Three Considerations

This article discusses three considerations for separate wills for spouses: naming separate beneficiaries, allowing for adjustments and separate probate actions.

Many spouses have similar or the same goals when it comes to estate planning. Simple estate plans often leave all of the assets to the other spouse. In these situations, it may be tempting to create a joint will with you and your spouse.

Joint wills sometimes save on expenses because you only pay for actually creating one will. However, what you gain in reduced costs can have negative long-term side effects for you, your spouse, or your beneficiaries. Instead, there are many benefits to creating separate wills for both you and your spouse.

Naming Separate Beneficiaries

Perhaps the most important benefit of creating two separate wills is that both spouses can name different individuals as their beneficiaries. Where certain goals diverge between spouses, it is important to lay out these separate considerations in each will. This is particularly true in situations where a spouse may have heirs from the first marriage, or he or she wants to leave assets to someone other than a child.

Separate Wills Allow for Adjustments

When you create a joint will with your spouse, you bind both parties to the agreement. However, these agreements may not be practical as one spouse may pass on long before the other. Joint wills do not allow for changes after one spouse has passed without going through many administrative challenges. That means that where family situations change, the surviving spouse will be unable to adjust his or her will.

Separate Probate Actions

When assets are in a joint will, they may be tied up until both spouses pass away. However, in a separate will, the assets are administered separately when one spouse passes. This allows beneficiaries to receive certain assets without waiting for both spouses to pass away. In addition, if there any disputes, they can be addressed with one will or the other when separate wills apply. In a joint will, some disputes may not be able to be settled until the surviving spouse passes away. Again, this can needlessly tie up assets for years.

Getting Help with Your Estate Plan

Although creating a joint will may seem like a good idea and a cost savings, it really may be more detrimental than beneficial in the long run. In fact, it may not be a cost savings in some circumstances because the estate planning attorney will still need to go through each individual’s assets and liabilities to determine the best estate plan for them.

Questions about separate or joint wills should be reviewed with an attorney who currently handles estate planning. Danilson Law no longer provides estate-planning services.