Choosing a Template for for Married Clients Planning Separately

Scenario

A married client engages you to draft only their Revocable Living Trust. The spouses may have a valid prenuptial agreement under which all property is treated as separate property. The other spouse will complete their estate plan separately with different counsel, and there is no intent to combine assets or coordinate planning.

Recommended Approach in Agile EP

Use Married Couple > Separate Revocable Trust Planning.

• This package creates one Revocable Living Trust while still treating the client as a married individual for workflow and disclosure purposes.

Use Married Couple > Separate Will Planning.

• This package creates one Will while still treating the client as a married individual for workflow and disclosure purposes.

Key Setup Tips

• Add the client as “Married.”
  This enables married-person workflows and allows you to properly capture spouse information, even though only one spouse is completing documents.

• Enter the spouse’s information as prompted.
  This ensures accurate marital disclosures and allows you to reference the prenuptial agreement where appropriate.

Configuration Options to Consider

• Prenuptial agreement references
  Where applicable, the planning workflow includes places to note that a valid prenuptial agreement governs the characterization of assets as separate property.

• Dispositive planning treatment of the spouse
  If the spouse is not intended to receive assets under the plan, the Document Planning tab includes an option to skip the spouse in the residuary section.