From
Your Perspective:
Financial self-defense for women
Investing with
your partner
Unmarried partners may manage their finances and make investment decisions separately or together, just as married couples may. And they can own their investments either as individuals or as joint tenants.
Anything you own jointly — real estate, securities, mutual fund accounts — becomes the property of the surviving partner if the other partner dies. Similarly, each partner can name the other as beneficiary of retirement savings plans, pensions, and insurance policies. That ensures that those assets will pass directly to the survivor.
Unlike a spouse, your partner isn’t legally entitled to a share of your estate if you die without a will. Since it’s critical to plan ahead, many experts suggest that you consider transferring ownership of property you own individually to a trust so that it will be distributed as you intend after your death. That’s because trusts are more difficult to contest than wills are.
It may also be a good idea to have a formal agreement describing how your property will be divided if your relationship falters. Though you don’t have to face the prospect of a divorce, you also have to recognize that you have no legal protection if you’re a dependent unmarried partner.
Joint ownership won't always protect you from having the rug pulled out from under you, financially speaking. When you have joint checking or savings accounts, or any account that doesn't require both signatures to transfer or withdraw money, either owner can take out every penny, perfectly legally.
