December 27, 2017

You and your spouse might have the same intentions for your future estate planning, but there’s plenty of good reason to set aside your own will for the purpose of protecting your loved ones. You need to ensure you have the right documents to protect your interests and plans. 

When putting together a will for a husband and a wife, your estate planning attorney will probably recommend that each person has their own will. Although a married couple may reference a will as a joint document, the word will in the New Jersey probate code is usually used in the singular tense to refer to the last will and testament of a woman or a man. Establishing an individual will is extremely important particularly as your life circumstances change.

Although there is history for joint wills in New Jersey, it is not entirely clear how this would work unless both parties passed away the same time, such as in an accident. Because of this, you may wish to articulate similar goals as your spouse in your own individual will but it is powerful and preferred that you have your own estate planning document. You and your spouse can sit down and discuss the goals that you intend to accomplish and putting together a last will and testament together.