Getting Married Financial Planning Issues

Getting Married Financial Planning Issues

People that are getting married generally do not spend as much time as they should to consider the financial issues. Here are a few things to ponder.

• Credit score and credit card debt
• Review each other’s credit reports
• Joint or separate credit cards – each should have at least one card in their own name
• College loan debt
• Develop a joint plan to pay down existing debt
• Decide on joint ground rules for new credit card debt
• Owning a house – how it would be titled
• Joint or separate bank accounts
• Provide for each spouse to have their own spending money that does not have to be accounted for, and if necessary each should have a separate bank account
• Designate one spouse that will pay the household bills and the other should reconcile the bank account each month
• Change wills
• Change pension designations – IRAs and employer plans. Consider spousal rights
• Decide on joint retirement planning funding targets
• Consider having powers of attorney – make sure you each understand the significance of these powers
• Health care proxies and living wills
• Custodian accts from parents should be terminated
• Life insurance and ownership and beneficiary designations
• Care or provisions for a child born after death of a parent
• Health insurance
• Decide whether the spouse will legally change their name
• If name changed, follow through on driver’s license, passport, professional license and similar items
• Make a decision to fie joint income tax returns
• Tax liens
• Judgments
• Discuss attitudes toward finances – spending, saving, budgeting and investing
• Talk about the possibility of needing to help a relative financially and the limits
• Decide together on long term financial goals
• Decide to discuss all major financial decisions
• Major or significant investment decisions or financial maneuvers should not be made without telling your spouse

Second marriage additional issues

• If you have a prenuptial agreement, follow up on implementation
• If current spouse is not to receive any inheritances from pension plans, that has to be stated in writing after the marriage by the spouse
• Consider having an “emergency” fund joint checking account
• Be aware that a joint or payable on death account passes outside of a will and the named party becomes the outright owner upon death
• Determine what would be left to surviving spouse and that if there are children from a prior marriage anything left to the spouse will eventually go to their children and not yours
• Make living arrangements post death in the marital residence or vacation or second residences
• Consider QTIP trusts
• Consider who is the trustee for your health care documents
• Make a decision to fie joint tax returns
• Make decision whether gifts will be split for tax filing

I previouslyposted a blog on prenuptial agreements on April 23, 2013 that you can check out for more information.