Marriage does come with certain built-in protections depending on your state’s laws surrounding estates and next of kin. Filing a marriage license often means your spouse is legally able to make medical decisions if you can’t, visit you in the hospital and inherit your estate.
But this can also be handled for unmarried, committed couples fairly easily — it just takes a little more paperwork. Many of the rights bestowed upon married couples can be covered with cohabitation agreements, power of attorney, advanced health-care directives and proper estate planning. Even some insurance plans cover domestic partners. Unfortunately, Social Security benefits are likely not something that can be passed on to a committed, but unmarried partner.
For those who choose to get married even after doing the math, it also stands to reason that you should file a little extra paperwork yourselves — by which I mean a prenuptial agreement.
Before legally yoking yourself to another person, it’s perfectly reasonable to pause and make sure a marriage license actually makes the most sense financially for you. People will always push back against what’s seen as outside the norm, so don’t let the pressure to “just get married already” get in the way of what works best for the two of you.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.