Should Each Spouse Have Their Own Estate Planning Lawyer?

Estate planning requires the attention of an entire family:  husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, and others all have a stake in ensuring that planning is done properly and timely.  This raises the question whether each individual with a stake in the planning needs their own lawyer.  Does each spouse in a blended family have adverse interests such that a single lawyer cannot represent them both in their planning?  An article in Forbes recently discussed this very question.

Of course, in certain family situations it is usually vital that couples have separate counsel. For example, while certain types of uncontested divorces exist, in most cases couples going through a separation must have their own legal advocate, because the entire process is contentious. Most times, though, the same issues do not apply in elder law estate planning.  While divorce involves a "tug-of-war" over property splitting and other issues, estate planning is a collaborative process where families talk together with the counsel of experienced legal professionals to discuss their long-term financial wishes and potential care needs.  There is typically much less inherent conflict.  This does not necessarily mean that that both spouses will automatically agree on every single detail of a plan, but the resolution of those disagreements are generally not so contentious that they necessitate each party have their own individual legal counsel.

The article mentions an added benefit of going through the process together, noting that "it builds greater trust and more open communication between the two of you, and possibly with all of the children in your lives. There are certain situations where separate representation may have benefits, though.  It is usually a combination of factors which might result in significant dispute, including situations where only one spouse has a child, where one spouse is much wealthier than the other, if the relationship is still very new, if there is a prenuptial agreement, if there is a large age difference between spouses, or if one spouse has certain privacy issues that they might not want exposed during the process.  It's a topic worth considering when starting a family estate plan.