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Mary and Paul had been married
for over 50 years. Lately, Paul’s health had begun to fail
and he needed Mary’s assistance more and more. Mary was
happy to do it. She loved her husband, but she also felt
herself getting more tired every day.
Like most
married couples, Mary and Paul owned their assets in joint
ownership. Their financial advisor assured them this would
“avoid probate”, if one of them died.
Mary knew
that someday Paul might need to go to a long-term care
facility and decided to see a lawyer to determine if there
were any options she needed to consider.
Upon
reviewing Mary’s will and asset ownership, the attorney
shared with her that if anything happened to her before
her husband, he would automatically get everything because
of the joint ownership.
Mary was pleased with this
confirmation since that was their intention. The attorney,
however, was not so confident. He explained to her that
she was more at risk of dying than her husband because of
the additional stress being put on her to care for her
husband.
He continued to explain that, in many
situations, when there is an ill spouse, the well spouse,
who is often the main caretaker, has a much higher level
of stress, often does not eat well or get enough sleep.
Their health eventually fails too.
The ailing
spouse, on the other hand, is in a much better position
since they are getting all of their needs fulfilled
through the caretaker spouse. In this case, he explained
to Mary, that if something were to happen to her, all the
assets going to her husband would likely be lost to pay
for his care in a nursing home, which would be likely
without her support.
In addition, the same would
occur if she left everything to her husband in her will.
Mary was shocked and concerned. No one had explained that
to her and she had not once considered it, but realized it
was quite possible. Something could happen to her first,
and all of their assets would be lost to her husband’s
care. So not only does a caretaker spouse face potential
health issues, they also face financial issues.
He
next explained several ways Mary could protect her assets
and ensure her husband gets the best care, should
something to happen to her.
Each solution,
however, required her to change the ownership of their
accounts from joint ownership and this was only the
beginning
Joint ownership is rarely the proper way
to own assets.
If you have questions,
click
here to have our office call to set up a time to
discuss this with you.
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