Welcome to the new singles scene.
Today, more and more seniors are finding love, whether via a glance across the nursing home activity room or at the local senior citizens mixer. With the average life expectancy in the U.S. today around 78 years, up from 70 in 1960, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, people are living longer and healthier lives than ever before. And that means more folks are rediscovering love later on in life.
But what can be exciting and romantic for an older couple can be nerve-racking for families that have hopes pinned to an inheritance or simply expectations about how money will be handled by a surviving parent. The issue here? Once married, a spouse will automatically inherit a deceased partner's estate -- unless steps are taken to prevent that.
Marriage at any age means a marriage of finances. But the fact that older folks are likely coming into a second or third marriage with adult children, assets, a house, a 401(k) and perhaps failing health makes a trip to the altar significantly more complicated. In fact, the legal implications can get so thorny that many older couples opt not to get married and instead just live together. (Some worry about Social Security benefits being threatened if they remarry, but if you remarry after age 60, you can still collect benefits on your former spouse's record.)
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© 2008 Microsoft
September 7, 2008
USA: Late-in-life marriages worry heirs
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Prenups, wills and trusts can help direct money where spouses want it to go -- and can keep family homes in the family without forcing a surviving spouse to leave.
MSN Money, September 7, 2008:
By SmartMoney
After her husband of 57 years passed away, Cathleen Bachmann's 80-year-old mother, Ruth, never thought she would remarry.
It didn't take long, though, before an old friend she had known since kindergarten began courting her from another state. They started dating, and soon her new beau decided to move to Michigan to be with her. About a year after her father died, Cathleen got a call from her mother saying she was going shopping for a wedding dress. (Names have been changed due to privacy concerns.)
Before the big day, Cathleen insisted that the couple sign a prenuptial agreement.
"My father would have never forgiven me," she says, if she let her mother marry without one. Her parents had considerable assets, and Cathleen worried that whoever was after her mother was after her money. "I knew it had to be done. If she predeceased him, because of our state law, I did not want him to inherit."
Welcome to the new singles scene.
Today, more and more seniors are finding love, whether via a glance across the nursing home activity room or at the local senior citizens mixer. With the average life expectancy in the U.S. today around 78 years, up from 70 in 1960, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, people are living longer and healthier lives than ever before. And that means more folks are rediscovering love later on in life.
But what can be exciting and romantic for an older couple can be nerve-racking for families that have hopes pinned to an inheritance or simply expectations about how money will be handled by a surviving parent. The issue here? Once married, a spouse will automatically inherit a deceased partner's estate -- unless steps are taken to prevent that.
Marriage at any age means a marriage of finances. But the fact that older folks are likely coming into a second or third marriage with adult children, assets, a house, a 401(k) and perhaps failing health makes a trip to the altar significantly more complicated. In fact, the legal implications can get so thorny that many older couples opt not to get married and instead just live together. (Some worry about Social Security benefits being threatened if they remarry, but if you remarry after age 60, you can still collect benefits on your former spouse's record.)
Click to read more
© 2008 Microsoft
Welcome to the new singles scene.
Today, more and more seniors are finding love, whether via a glance across the nursing home activity room or at the local senior citizens mixer. With the average life expectancy in the U.S. today around 78 years, up from 70 in 1960, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, people are living longer and healthier lives than ever before. And that means more folks are rediscovering love later on in life.
But what can be exciting and romantic for an older couple can be nerve-racking for families that have hopes pinned to an inheritance or simply expectations about how money will be handled by a surviving parent. The issue here? Once married, a spouse will automatically inherit a deceased partner's estate -- unless steps are taken to prevent that.
Marriage at any age means a marriage of finances. But the fact that older folks are likely coming into a second or third marriage with adult children, assets, a house, a 401(k) and perhaps failing health makes a trip to the altar significantly more complicated. In fact, the legal implications can get so thorny that many older couples opt not to get married and instead just live together. (Some worry about Social Security benefits being threatened if they remarry, but if you remarry after age 60, you can still collect benefits on your former spouse's record.)
Click to read more
© 2008 Microsoft
