Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples: The Rights Marriage Gives Automatically, and How to Claim Them Anyway

Key Takeaways

• The law’s default setting is “not together.” Without documents, the laws of Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Maryland all route your property to blood relatives, not your partner, no matter how long you’ve been together.
• First, find out whether you’re already married. Texas is the only one of these six states where a couple can still become married without a license, through common law (informal) marriage. Every state honors one formed where it was legal.
• You can build nearly every marital protection on purpose: inheritance, medical authority, financial control, even who plans your funeral. But only in advance, and the tools differ from state to state.
• Some gaps can’t be closed with documents. Unmarried partners get no Social Security survivor benefits, no unlimited marital deduction, and no estate tax portability. Planning around those gaps takes real numbers, and we have the 2026 figures below.
• Doing nothing is still a decision. It just hands the decision to a statute and a judge who never met you.

Why the Stakes Are Higher When You’re Not Married

Every married couple in America rides a set of legal rails they mostly never see. When one spouse dies without a will, the survivor inherits. When one is unconscious in the ICU, the other is usually the first person the doctors turn to. When assets pass between them, the tax code steps aside. When one dies, the other may collect a Social Security survivor benefit for the rest of their life.

Unmarried partners ride no rails at all. The law’s baseline assumption is that you are two separate, unrelated people, and it handles your life accordingly. Intestacy laws (the rules for who inherits when there’s no will) follow bloodlines: children, parents, siblings, then outward to relatives you may barely know. A partner of thirty years appears nowhere on that list.

You don’t patch this gap after the fact. You close it ahead of time, on purpose. That’s exactly what estate planning is: deliberately building the protections the law hands married couples for free.

First Question: Are You Already Married?

Before you plan as an unmarried couple, make sure you actually are one. A handful of states still recognize common law marriage, where a couple becomes legally married without a license. Among the cities our community calls home, only one state still allows it:

City	State	Can you form a common law marriage there?
Houston	Texas	Yes. Texas calls it “informal marriage.”
Atlanta	Georgia	No. Abolished for marriages formed after 1996.
Detroit	Michigan	No. Abolished in 1957.
Jackson	Mississippi	No. Abolished in 1956.
New Orleans	Louisiana	No. Never recognized.
Baltimore	Maryland	No. Never recognized.

Here’s the catch: every state honors a common law marriage that was validly formed somewhere else. If you and your partner lived together in Texas and presented yourselves as married, then moved to Atlanta or Baltimore, you may still be legally married. Georgia also still honors common law marriages formed there before 1997.

The Texas Rules

Under Texas Family Code § 2.401, a couple is informally married if they:

1. Agreed to be married,
2. After that agreement, lived together in Texas as a married couple, and
3. Represented to others that they were married.

A couple can also sign and record a Declaration of Informal Marriage with the county clerk, which settles the question on paper.

This cuts both ways. If you meet all three tests, you are legally married, with everything that comes with it: spousal inheritance rights, Texas community property rules, and the need for a formal divorce if you split. If you introduce each other as husband and wife, file joint tax returns, or share a last name “for simplicity,” you may be closer to that line than you think. On the other hand, simply living together does not make you married in Texas, no matter how long it lasts. And if a couple separates and no one goes to court within two years, Texas presumes there was never an agreement to marry.

If you’re not sure which side of the line you’re on, settle that with an attorney before you build anything else.

Other States That Recognize Common Law Marriage

As of 2026, new common law marriages can be formed in these places:

State	Status
Colorado	Recognized
District of Columbia	Recognized
Iowa	Recognized
Kansas	Recognized
Montana	Recognized
Rhode Island	Recognized
Texas	Recognized (called “informal marriage”)
Oklahoma	Unsettled. Courts and some state agencies have recognized it, but the law is unclear.
New Hampshire	Limited. Recognized only after one partner dies, for inheritance purposes.
Utah	Limited. A court must validate the marriage, and the petition must be filed within one year after the relationship ends.

Several other states have abolished common law marriage but still honor ones formed before their cutoff dates, including South Carolina (2019), Alabama (2017), Pennsylvania (2005), and Ohio (1991).

The rest of this blueprint is for couples who are not legally married, formally or informally.

Your State at a Glance

The moves in this blueprint work everywhere, but the tools and forms differ by state. Here’s what to ask for where you live:

City	Pass your home to your partner without probate	Name who handles your funeral	Health care decision document
Houston, TX	Transfer on Death Deed or a lady bird deed	Appointment for Disposition of Remains (notarized)	Medical Power of Attorney and Directive to Physicians
Atlanta, GA	Transfer on Death Deed, available since July 2024 and revised in April 2026	Your Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care can give your agent authority over your remains	Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care
Detroit, MI	No transfer on death deed; a lady bird (enhanced life estate) deed or a trust does the job	Funeral representative designation (two witnesses or a notary)	Patient Advocate Designation
Jackson, MS	Transfer on Death Deed	Written designation under Miss. Code § 73-11-58	Advance Health-Care Directive
New Orleans, LA	No transfer on death deed; a trust or a will (called a testament) is the usual route	Written, notarized designation	Health care power of attorney and living will declaration
Baltimore, MD	Transfer on Death Deed, new as of October 1, 2026	Maryland Advance Directive includes an option to name an agent for funeral decisions	Maryland Advance Directive

Funeral designations: Funeral Consumers Alliance, state-by-state guide.

One bright spot for Baltimore couples. Maryland stands out among these six states. For medical decisions, its law lists a domestic partner alongside a spouse when doctors need someone to make decisions for a patient who has no advance directive. You may need to prove the partnership, typically with an affidavit. That’s helpful, but it’s a fallback, not a plan. A signed Maryland Advance Directive is still the surest protection. (Maryland Health-General § 5-605)

A note for New Orleans families. Louisiana’s civil law system has its own vocabulary and rules, including forced heirship, which reserves part of your estate for children 23 or younger or permanently disabled children. Work with a Louisiana attorney so your plan for your partner fits within those rules.

The Blueprint: Seven Moves for Unmarried Couples

Your relationship carries no automatic legal weight, so give it some. A cohabitation agreement spells out who owns what, how you split shared expenses and property, and what happens if you separate. Think of it as a prenup for people who aren’t getting married: unromantic on its face, deeply protective underneath.

If you live in Texas, or you’ve ever lived in another common law marriage state, it can do one more job. It can state plainly that you do not intend to be married, which helps prevent a later claim that you were informally married all along.

This is the most valuable hour you’ll spend, because beneficiary designations override your will. Life insurance, retirement accounts, and payable-on-death bank accounts go directly to whoever is named on the form, no matter what any other document says. Name your partner as primary beneficiary, and those assets land in their hands quickly, outside of probate. Then pull out every form and check it. An ex-spouse or a late parent still listed on a 401(k) is one of the most common, and most painful, mistakes in estate planning.

Retirement accounts come with one important caveat. A surviving spouse can roll an inherited IRA into their own and treat it as theirs. An unmarried partner can’t. What happens next depends on your ages:

• If your partner is no more than 10 years younger than you, the IRS treats them as an “eligible designated beneficiary.” They can stretch withdrawals over their own life expectancy, much as a spouse could. For many couples in midlife, that’s good news.
• If your partner is more than 10 years younger, the 10-year rule applies. The entire account must be emptied by the end of the tenth year after your death. If you had already started your own required withdrawals, they generally have to take some out every year along the way. Every dollar from a traditional IRA comes out as taxable income, often in their highest-earning years.

Name your partner anyway. Direct inheritance beats probate every time. But plan around the tax bill. A Roth conversion, or a life insurance policy sized to cover the tax, can soften the blow. Source: IRS, Retirement Topics: Beneficiary.

How your name appears on a deed or account decides who gets it, often more than your will does. You have a few main tools, and which ones are available depends on your state (see Your State at a Glance above).

Joint ownership with right of survivorship. When one partner dies, the other automatically owns the whole thing, with no probate. The exact deed wording matters: some states, including Texas, require the survivorship right to be spelled out in writing. Louisiana works differently altogether, so New Orleans couples should ask a Louisiana attorney how to structure co-ownership. Wherever you live, handle joint ownership with open eyes:

• Adding your partner to a deed you already own is a gift of half its value. Above the $19,000 annual exclusion, that means filing a gift tax return, though tax is rarely owed.
• Joint ownership is permanent in a way a will is not. Your partner becomes a true co-owner today, with a say in any sale or refinance.
• For unmarried co-owners, the IRS presumes the entire property belongs in the estate of whoever dies first, unless the survivor can prove what they paid. Keep records of who contributed what to the down payment, mortgage, and improvements. Those records affect both estate tax and how much of the property gets a fresh tax basis.

A transfer on death deed. For many couples, this is the cleaner choice. You keep full ownership of your home during your lifetime. Your partner has no rights until you die, and then the property passes to them automatically, outside of probate. It isn’t a gift, you can revoke it at any time, and your partner generally receives a full step-up in tax basis. Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, and now Maryland offer it. The catch: it must be signed and recorded with the county before your death. A deed tucked in a drawer does nothing. If you signed a Georgia transfer on death deed before April 2026, have it reviewed; the law changed.

A lady bird deed or a trust. In Michigan, which doesn’t offer a transfer on death deed, a lady bird (enhanced life estate) deed works much the same way. In Louisiana, and anywhere else, a revocable living trust can hold your home and pass it to your partner without probate.

Your will names your partner as heir, appoints the person who will settle your estate, and, if you have minor children, nominates their guardian. Without it, Texas intestacy law makes those choices for you, and your partner isn’t on its list.

A revocable living trust goes further. Assets held in the trust pass to your partner privately and without probate, on the terms you set: all at once, over time, or under conditions you choose. For unmarried couples, a trust does something a will can’t. It keeps your affairs out of a public probate court, where a resentful relative can contest them. You get privacy, control, and a much harder target for challenges.

Estate planning isn’t only about death. It’s about the far more common event of being alive but unable to act: a surgery, an accident, a stroke.

Here’s the part most people get wrong. Federal rules let you choose your own hospital visitors, so your partner can usually get through the door. The real danger is what happens once they’re inside. If you can’t speak for yourself and haven’t named anyone, Texas law turns to your spouse, then your adult children, then your parents, then your nearest relative to make medical decisions. Your partner isn’t on that list. They can sit at your bedside and still have no say.

Close that gap with this set of documents. The names differ by state (see the table above), but every state has a version of each:

• Durable financial power of attorney. Your partner can manage your money, pay your bills, and handle your affairs if you can’t.
• Health care power of attorney. Your partner can make medical decisions when you can’t. Depending on your state, it may be called a medical power of attorney, an advance directive, or a patient advocate designation.
• Living will. Your own wishes about end-of-life care, in writing, so no one has to guess. Some states combine this with the health care power of attorney in one form.
• HIPAA authorization. Doctors can share your medical information with your partner.
• Nomination of guardian. If a court ever has to appoint a guardian for you, this names your partner, and can name anyone you want kept out.

These documents decide who holds your hand in the ICU and who has the authority to speak for you. Don’t skip them.

This is the gap almost nobody talks about. In Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, and Louisiana, if you haven’t named anyone, the right to make decisions about your burial or cremation goes first to a spouse, then to adult children, parents, and other relatives. An unmarried partner of decades can be left with no say in your service, your burial, or where your ashes rest. Maryland is again the exception: it puts a domestic partner on equal footing with a spouse, though you may need to prove the partnership.

The fix is simple. Every one of these states lets you name the person you want, in writing. In Texas, it’s an Appointment for Disposition of Remains; in Michigan, a funeral representative designation; in Georgia and Maryland, it can be part of your advance directive. Name your partner, put your wishes in writing, follow your state’s signing rules, and make sure they have a copy.

If you’re raising children together, your will should name a legal guardian. Without that designation, a court decides who raises your kids, and a court may not decide the way you would. If one partner isn’t a legal or adoptive parent, this matters even more. Without documentation, that partner may have no legal standing to keep the children at all.

If you have children from a prior relationship, be clear about who inherits what. Your plan can provide for your partner and still protect your children’s inheritance, but only if you write it down. In Louisiana, forced heirship rules may require part of your estate to go to young or disabled children, so plan with that in mind. Name the guardian. Name the beneficiaries. Don’t leave your children’s future to a judge’s best guess.

The Hard Realities and the 2026 Numbers Behind Them

Marriage isn’t just sentimental. It’s a legal and tax status, and the gaps unmarried couples face can be measured. Some you can close with documents. Some you can only plan around.

Protection	Married couples get	Unmarried partners get	Can you close the gap?
Inheritance without a will	Spouse inherits under state law	Nothing; blood relatives inherit	Yes: will, trust, beneficiary forms, transfer on death deed
Medical decisions	Spouse is first in line	Not on the list in most states (Maryland includes domestic partners)	Yes: health care power of attorney, HIPAA release
Funeral and burial decisions	Spouse is first in line	Not on the list in most states (Maryland includes domestic partners)	Yes: a written funeral designation
Protections for the home and family support	Special spousal rights, which vary by state	None	Partly: transfer on death deed, trust, or joint ownership
Tax-free transfers	Unlimited marital deduction	$19,000 per year, then counts against the $15 million exemption	Plan around it
Unused estate tax exemption	Passes to the surviving spouse (up to $30 million combined)	Lost	Plan around it
Inherited IRA	Can roll into own IRA	Lifetime stretch only if no more than 10 years younger; otherwise 10-year rule	Plan around it
Social Security survivor benefits	Yes	None	Plan around it: life insurance, savings

Inheritance

Without a will or trust, intestacy law puts blood relatives ahead of your partner, full stop. Your partner’s claim to the life you built together is only as strong as the documents you signed.

Married couples also get extra protections for the family home and day-to-day support. In Texas, a surviving spouse can keep living in the homestead for life. In Georgia, a surviving spouse can claim a “year’s support” from the estate, which can include the home. In Louisiana, a surviving spouse often keeps the right to use the couple’s community property for life. An unmarried partner gets none of these. If the house passes to your relatives, your partner can be asked to leave.

Taxes

This is where the gap shows up in real dollars. In 2026, the federal estate and gift tax exemption is $15 million per person, now permanent and adjusted for inflation each year. Most estates will never come close. (Morgan Lewis)

But married couples get two advantages unmarried couples don’t:

• The unlimited marital deduction. Spouses can pass any amount to each other, during life or at death, free of estate and gift tax. Between unmarried partners, anything over the $19,000 annual exclusion (the 2026 figure) counts against your lifetime exemption. That includes paying more than your share of the mortgage, or adding your partner to a deed.
• Portability. A surviving spouse can claim their late spouse’s unused exemption, for up to $30 million combined. An unmarried partner can’t.

For most couples, the income tax on inherited retirement accounts will matter long before the estate tax does. But if you’re building real wealth, these differences add up.

Social Security

This may be the biggest dollar gap of all, and documents can’t fix it. A surviving spouse can collect a Social Security survivor benefit based on their late spouse’s work record, often for decades. An unmarried partner gets nothing, no matter how long you were together.

If your partner depends on your income, plan for the day that check stops. Life insurance, a retirement account that names them as beneficiary, or savings set aside for them can fill part of the gap. Children you share may still qualify for benefits on your record, even though your partner won’t.

One note for widows: if you’re collecting a survivor benefit from a late spouse, remarrying before age 60 generally ends it, while remarrying at 60 or older doesn’t. If that’s part of your decision about whether to marry, run the numbers before you decide.

Healthcare

Without a Medical Power of Attorney and HIPAA release, your partner may be able to visit you but can’t make decisions for you or get information about your care. The person who knows your wishes best can be legally sidelined by a relative who doesn’t. Two signed documents prevent it.

Questions People Actually Ask

Can my partner inherit from me without a will? Not reliably. With no will, trust, or beneficiary designation, your state’s intestacy law decides who inherits, and in every one of our six states it favors blood relatives over an unmarried partner. If you want your partner to inherit, you have to say so in a legal document.

Does Texas recognize common law marriage? Yes. Texas calls it informal marriage. A couple is married if they agreed to be married, lived together in Texas as a married couple, and told others they were married. Living together alone, for any length of time, isn’t enough.

Do Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana, or Maryland recognize common law marriage? None of them allow a new common law marriage to be formed today. Georgia abolished it for marriages formed after 1996, Michigan in 1957, and Mississippi in 1956; Louisiana and Maryland never allowed it. But all five honor a common law marriage that was validly formed in another state, such as Texas, or in Georgia before 1997.

How many years do you have to live together to be common law married? There’s no minimum in Texas or anywhere else. It’s a common myth that seven years, or any number of years, makes you married. What matters is the agreement to be married and presenting yourselves as married, not the length of time.

Can my unmarried partner get my Social Security when I die? No. Social Security survivor benefits go to legal spouses, including spouses in a valid common law marriage, but not to unmarried partners. Children you have together may still qualify.

Can my partner make medical decisions for me if we’re not married? Only if you’ve signed a health care power of attorney or advance directive naming them, in most states. Maryland is a partial exception: it lets a domestic partner make decisions when there’s no advance directive, but you may have to prove the relationship. Signing the document is still the safest route everywhere.

Should we just get married instead? Maybe, and maybe not. Marriage solves many of these problems at once, but it can also affect pensions, survivor benefits from a prior marriage, financial aid, and what your children from earlier relationships inherit. It’s a personal decision. Whatever you choose, make it on purpose, with the numbers in front of you.

The Bottom Line

Marriage hands couples a set of protections without asking. Unmarried couples have to claim those same protections deliberately. You can claim nearly all of them, as long as you act before the moment you need them. The tragedy isn’t that the law treats unmarried partners as strangers. It’s that so many couples don’t find out until a hospital, a bank, a funeral home, or a probate court tells them.

You’ve already built the relationship. Now build the structure that protects it:

• Confirm whether you’re legally married, formally or informally
• Sign a cohabitation agreement
• Review and update every beneficiary designation
• Title your home on purpose: a recorded transfer on death deed where your state offers one, a lady bird deed, a trust, or joint ownership with survivorship rights
• Sign a will, and consider a revocable living trust
• Sign a durable financial power of attorney, a health care power of attorney or advance directive, a living will, a HIPAA authorization, and a nomination of guardian
• Name, in writing, who will handle your funeral
• Name a guardian for your children
• Plan for the income your partner would lose, including Social Security

That’s the architecture that turns a life you share into a legacy the law will actually honor. Preserve what you grow.

Ready to build it deliberately? Start with the Legacy Essentials Bundle, the step-by-step toolkit for getting your documents, accounts, and wishes organized before anyone needs them. And come pull up a chair at The House, our community for women building and protecting generational wealth, where we work through questions like these together.

Keep rising to the top!✌🏾

LA🌻🖤✊🏾
Lisa Ann Mason | Legacy Architect & Generational Wealth Strategist
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