Community Property Agreements

Last time we met, we talked about Prenuptial Agreements and Living Together Agreements, and I talked a lot about community property, but I didn't really talk much about Community Property Agreements. So I want to define again what community property is. It's what you earn while you're married, while you're living in a community property state. It does not include inheritances and it doesn't include gifts. There are only nine community property states and they are: Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nebraska, California, Washington and Idaho. The community property laws are not the same in every state so if you move away from Washington, you need to consider whether or not you want to still have everything be community property, or if you need a new Community Property Agreement. But here's an even harder problem. If you have moved here from another state and that wasn't a community property state, now you have an added problem. In the states that don't have community property, the Legislature has required people to give a forced share to their spouse. If you move here, we don't have a forced share, so the problem is that if your partner dies, you don't get a forced share and whatever your partner brought along wasn't community property. So you lose on both counts.

If you move to Washington State, you need to consider whether you need to do a Community Property Agreement. It's actually a very easy way to dispose of property at passing. It transfers at the moment of death, so when the first partner passes away, you don't need to have a probate. And that's why it's called the poor man's Will. But there is a downside. Once it's signed, it's a contract. It's binding and you can't cancel it unless your partner agrees. It trumps a Will so you can't cancel it by Will. This is a complicated area. You need to have an attorney help you go through the ups and the downs and the maybes of doing a Community Property Agreement.

If you'd like to read more, you may purchase my book from my website, wheretheresawilltheresaway.net. Once again, wheretheresawilltheresaway.net.

Have a great day.