Return to Main Page      Return to Domestic Partnership Page Life and Estate Planning       Domestic Partner Planning Contacting Us       Attorney Biography       Blog and Podcasts Questionnaire       Downloads       Workshops The Law Offices of Jeffrey G. Marsocci, PLLC 8406 Six Forks Road, Suite 102 Raleigh, North Carolina 27615 (919) 844-7993 Fax (919) 844-7995

While there is a limited amount of protection for traditional families that don't bother to write down their wishes, there is absolutely no protection for non-traditional families. Same-gender couples, unmarried couples and married people with step-children are particularly at risk.  In our comprehensive domestic partnership estate plan, most of the estate planning is handled through the revocable living trust, and a Last Will and Testament is used to "Back-Up" the trust by placing any overlooked probate property into the trust and by handling several other matters that are best left to a Will. These matters are:   Burial Provisions Taxes Guardianship Your Burial Plans are Left to the Whims of Relatives Without a Will Without a Will, when a person passes on without leaving specific burial instructions, their relatives decide how the service should be conducted, what type of burial is to be performed, and how much money will be spent on the funeral process. Grief-stricken families may be talked into needless services and "extras" by unscrupulous funeral home directors or, as is more often the case, their own desire to give "only the best" to their deceased loved one. In addition, same-gender or unmarried partners are frequently brushed aside by the family members and not allowed in the planning process at all (if they are even allowed in to the service.)  A person who may have wanted a $1,000 cremation while wearing their softball league uniform and a simple service may end up with a $15,000 burial in an expensive casket while wearing a tuxedo. All because they didn't bother to write down their wishes beforehand. Wishes For Custody of Minor Children are Unheard Everyone who has a minor child could be setting them up for a childhood of grief and hard times if they don't carefully select guardians and name them in a Will. While this is less common in unmarried partnerships, there are many couples that are responsible for minor children. Even if they are not the primary caregiver, if something does happen to them the child's future remains uncertain.   A court will always end up making the final decision, but an unfit brother that would be the last person you want to raise your child may be favored over your partner or the life-long friends you trust implicitly. A court will not consider what you may have wanted had you bothered to write it down, but it will instead use its own judgment, morals and preferences to arrive at its own conclusion. Tax Bills The federal government imposes an estate tax upon the death of every person. For most people, the impact of the tax is negligible because every person also has lifetime estate tax exemptions. In short, if you own less than $675,000, then you need not worry about federal estate taxes. In addition, the lifetime exemptions for each individual are increasing over the next several years until the year 2006 when it reaches $1,000,000. The federal estate tax exemptions will rise as follows:         Year                 Exemption 2006-2009       $2,000,000 2009                $3,500,000 2010                NO TAX 2011                $1,000,000 Keep in mind that these exemptions are not cumulative. So if a person died in 2012 with $1,000,000 going to his partner, and the partner dies later in 2016 with $1,000,000 of their own plus the inheritance from their partner, he or she had an estate of $2,000,000. The federal estate tax would have amounted to nearly $350,000, leaving the heirs with far less than the $3,000,000. With proper estate planning, there may have been no federal estate taxes in this example. This type of tax planning is unique to every individual, and there is no one document that fits all estate tax planning situations. If you have specific questions, then please Contact Us or an estate planning attorney in your area. There are many reasons to write a Will, and the few pages of this website are not sufficient to go through all of them. The bottom line is that your partner and family is worth the time and investment it takes to write a Will.  If you would like for our firm to assist you with a comprehensive domestic partnership estate plan, then please proceed to the Questionnaire. To go back to the document list, then please Click Here. To return to the main page, then please Click Here. Revocable Living Trust       Domestic Partnership Property Agreement       Last Will and Testament Financial Power of Attorney       Healthcare Power of Attorney       Living Will