Financial Protection for Couples: Estate Planning, Insurance, and More

by Alex Freedman, Senior Wealth Advisor

For couples, protecting wealth (and each other) requires thoughtful planning that goes beyond a simple will or basic insurance policy.

Whether you’re long-term partners, married, or remarried, a coordinated financial protection strategy can help preserve assets, reduce risk, and provide peace of mind.

This guide explores how to take the necessary steps to ensure you and your partner are financially protected today and tomorrow.

Start With a Coordinated Estate Plan

Estate planning is the cornerstone of financial protection for couples. Without a clear, updated plan, the wealth you’ve built can be exposed to unnecessary taxes, delays, and disputes. Key considerations include:

• Wills and revocable living trusts to control how assets are managed and distributed during life and after death.
• Incapacity planning, including durable powers of attorney and healthcare directives, so decisions can be made seamlessly if one partner becomes unable to act.
• Up-to-date beneficiary designations to ensure retirement accounts, life insurance, and other non-probate assets align with your broader estate plan.
• Irrevocable trusts designed to help minimize estate taxes and protect assets from creditors, future divorces, or mismanagement.
• Strategies for multigenerational wealth transfer including financial literacy initiatives, family governance structures, and tactics to mitigate estate taxes.

Tip: If you live in a community property state (where assets and income acquired during marriage are split evenly), this should inform your estate planning.

Use Insurance as a Risk-Management Tool

Rather than viewing insurance as a standalone product, affluent couples should integrate it into their broader financial plans. In addition to health, auto, and property insurance, be sure to secure:

• Life insurance to provide liquidity for surviving spouses, fund trusts, replace income, or pay estate taxes without forcing asset sales.
• Disability insurance to protect your and your partner’s earning power, which may be one of your most valuable assets.
• Long-term care insurance or hybrid policies to help preserve assets if extended care is needed later in life.
• Umbrella liability coverage to guard against significant personal liability claims.
• Customized solutions tailored to your business needs including professional liability insurance, key person insurance, and international travel protections.

Tip: Cyber insurance can help protect your personal and business information form data breaches, identity theft and extortion.

Protect Your Assets Now & In the Future

Asset protection planning helps reduce risks from lawsuits, creditors, or unexpected events. Key tools to discuss with your advisor include:

• Irrevocable trusts (such as asset protection or spendthrift trusts) funded with separate property or legacy assets.
• Prenuptial or postnuptial agreements to clearly define separate property, address inheritances and business interests, and outline spousal support provisions.
• Cohabitation agreements to establish financial, ownership, and debt responsibilities for unmarried partners.
• Strategic asset titling, in your name, your spouse’s name, or as tenants by the entirety, to help limit liability and enhance creditor protection.
• Limited liability entities (such as LLCs, limited partnerships, or S corporations) to shield personal assets from business risks while offering potential tax benefits.

Tip: Asset protection rules differ by state. In community property states, marital assets and debts are typically divided equally, while common-law states determine ownership based on how assets are titled or registered.

Plan for Blended Families and Multigenerational Goals

You’re not alone if you’re juggling multiple priorities such as supporting a current spouse, protecting children from a previous relationship, and preserving wealth for future generations.

Advanced planning tools like QTIP trusts, dynasty trusts, and family governance structures can help manage these complexities, reduce conflict, and keep everyone in harmony.

Financial Protection: Brief FAQ

Why do couples need more than a basic will?
A basic will typically fails to address incapacity planning, tax efficiency, and asset protection. For high-net-worth couples, trusts and coordinated estate planning provide greater control, privacy, and flexibility.

What if one spouse brings significantly more assets into the marriage?
This is where careful structuring, separate property planning, and prenuptial or postnuptial agreements can help protect both partners while maintaining transparency and fairness.

How can we avoid commingling assets?

Use separate accounts and funds for premarital assets, real estate expenses, investments, and digital assets. Once separate property is mixed with marital funds, courts may treat it as marital property.

How often should we review our financial protection plan?
At a minimum, plans should be reviewed every few years and after major life events such as marriage, divorce, a birth, a death, a business sale, or significant changes in wealth or tax law.

The Bottom Line

A strong financial protection plan grows with your wealth and family, helping ensure your money supports the people you care about at every stage of life.

We can work with your estate attorneys, accountants, and insurance providers to create a customized plan that helps you build a life together with confidence.

Let’s talk.