Myth #2- Everything will go to my spouse when I die.

You might have read myth one and said, “Lindsay I don’t have kids and I’m married.  I don’t need a Will because everything will go to my spouse.”  You may be right.  Then again you may not be.  Do you really want to take that chance?  The intestate statute has limited circumstance where the spouse inherits your entire probate estate.  Many times people do not realize that still having living parents can prevent your spouse from inheriting everything.  Let’s put this into real terms.  You and your lovely bride are freshly married and own a business together.  You haven’t done any estate or business succession planning.  You own the business as individuals with no right of survivorship and the house you live in is in her name alone.  You wife dies without a Will while her parents are still living.  As a result of how your assets are titled, her house and her share of the business are probate assets.  You are entitled to the first $30,000 of her estate and then you must split the remaining estate 50/50 with her parents.  That’s right, you now own a house and a business with your in-laws.  I hope you have a good relationship.

Now you may be asking yourself, what if we had kids?  Well if you add kids into the equation above, instead of splitting the assets with your in-laws, you now own a house and business with your children.  If the children were your wife’s from a previous marriage, you don’t even get the first $30,000 of the estate.  The moral of the story is, if you don’t want to end up in business with someone you never intended to take as a business partner, make sure you and your spouse have a Will.  You probably want to speak with an attorney about business succession planning as well, but that is a different article.

Lindsay Schoeneberger is an attorney at Russell, Krafft and Gruber, LLP in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She received her law degree from Widener University School of Law and practices in a variety of areas, including Estate Planning.