Creating an estate plan is crucial for everyone, but LGBTQ+ individuals and families often face unique considerations that require special attention. Let me share a story about former clients of mine we will call Alexis and Sarah that illustrates why thoughtful estate planning is so essential for our LGBTQ+ community members in California.
Alexis and Sarah had been together for 15 years before marriage equality became law. They built a beautiful life together, including raising Sarah’s daughter from a previous relationship, whom Alexis had helped parent since she was three. While Alexis had never legally adopted her, she was, in every meaningful way, her daughter too. They came to me concerned about protecting each other and ensuring their daughter’s future security.
Like many LGBTQ+ families, Alexis and Sarah’s situation involved complexities that required careful planning. Sarah’s parents had never accepted their relationship, and they worried about potential challenges to their wishes if something happened to either of them. Their story highlights why standard estate planning often doesn’t adequately address LGBTQ+ family dynamics.
In California, we’re fortunate to have strong legal protections for LGBTQ+ families, but making the most of these protections requires proactive planning. For Alexis and Sarah, we created a comprehensive living trust that explicitly outlined their intentions and protected their family unit. We included specific provisions acknowledging Alexis’s role as a parent and ensuring she would maintain a relationship with their daughter regardless of what happened to Sarah.
We also prepared healthcare directives that gave each partner full authority to make medical decisions for the other. This step is crucial – even in California, without proper documentation, hospitals might defer to biological family members over long-term partners or spouses in crisis situations.
For those in our community who aren’t married, estate planning becomes even more critical. California law provides some protections for registered domestic partners, but unmarried partners need robust estate plans to ensure their wishes are honored. This includes creating powers of attorney, living trusts, and explicit beneficiary designations.
Another vital consideration we addressed with Alexis and Sarah was protecting their chosen family – the close friends who had become their support system when biological family members stepped away. Through their estate plan, they could ensure these important people in their lives would be recognized and included in medical decisions and inheritance plans.
Working with Alexis and Sarah reminded me why I’m passionate about serving our LGBTQ+ community. When they finished signing their documents, the relief on their faces was palpable. They finally had the security of knowing their family was protected, their wishes would be honored, and their legacy would be preserved exactly as they intended.
If you’re part of the LGBTQ+ community and haven’t yet created an estate plan, please don’t wait. Every family deserves the peace of mind that comes from knowing their loved ones are protected. Whether you’re married, single, or partnered, whether you have children or not, a carefully crafted estate plan ensures your wishes will be respected and your loved ones will be cared for according to your desires.
Contact our office to schedule a consultation. We understand the unique needs of LGBTQ+ families and are committed to creating estate plans that honor and protect your relationships, your values, and your legacy.