Death and Living Together Contracts

chapter 7  | looking ahead: estate planning |  199
distribution of your property—called your executor.
This chapter covers wills, the most basic of all estate planning docu­
ments, and contains a sample completed will form. There is also a sample
of a basic will later in this chapter. It also covers more extensive estate
planning. Transferring all your property by a will can have drawbacks.
The principal one is probate, a legal proceeding where your will is filed
with a court, your assets identified, your debts paid, and your property
distributed to your heirs. Probate is usually expensive and time-consuming.
By planning ahead, you can eliminate or lessen the need for probate, and
sometimes decrease estate taxes. “Estate Planning Beyond a Will,” below,
can help you to decide whether your estate planning needs will be taken
care of through a will or whether something more is warranted.
Death and Living Together Contracts
In Chapter 8, we explain that most states will enforce written living
together contracts that cover property. If you have a contract stating that
you’re the half-owner of specific property, your partner has no power to
dispose of your share, either during your life or at your death. While a
living together contract will establish who owns what, you cannot rely
on a living together contract (even one that provides that the survivor
inherits the deceased partner’s property) as a valid means for transferring
property held in one partner’s name upon the death of that person.
Caution
A living together contract is not a will. If you have a living together
contract, you may think you’ve done enough. But that’s definitely not the case. A
living together contract defines how a couple owns property while both partners
are alive. It’s not a substitute for a will or living trust, documents that specify what
happens to a person’s property after he or she dies.
Still, a living together contract is important. If you and your lover have
no written contract, you could have trouble proving your agreements
about property ownership after your partner’s death. If your lover dies