If my spouse and I want to leave our joint assets to our children, can’t we just do that in our wills?

Can Wills Handle Joint Assets?

Yes, you and your spouse can use your wills to leave half of your combined assets to your children. In fact, that’s exactly where you should address what goes to your kids—not in your prenup.

If you’re getting married and you have children or plan to, it’s important to have both a prenup and a will. A prenup clarifies:

• What belongs to you.
• What belongs to your spouse.
• What is considered joint or “ours.”

A will, on the other hand, answers the question – when I die, what happens to everything that’s mine, plus 50% of the “ours” bucket?

Why Estate Planning Doesn’t Belong in a Prenup

While it might seem convenient to include estate planning in your prenup, there are two major reasons not to:

1. Wills Are Flexible
   People update their will from time to time, and a prenup is usually just done once.
   
   
2. Avoid Conflicts Between Your Prenup and Your Will
   A prenup is an agreement between two people so both people have to agree to change it. With a will you don’t need anyone else’s permission to update it. You don’t want to be in a position where you want to add your nephew or your granddaughter to your will and your spouse won’t agree. And you definitely don’t want to be in a position where your prenup and your will disagree with each other.

The Bottom Line

Get a prenup and a will, but use them for different purposes.