By Amber Moser, CFP® and Aimée Lloyd, CFP®, CDFA®, CFA | Keel Financial Partners
As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I know firsthand that financial planning can feel like it was designed for someone else’s life. The examples don’t always fit. The assumptions don’t always apply. And finding an advisor who genuinely understands your situation, without having to explain it from the beginning, is not always easy.That is part of why I do this work. And it is why, this Pride Month, we want to have a direct conversation about what thoughtful financial planning actually looks like for LGBTQ+ individuals and families.The core principles of financial planning are universal. The planning itself, however, needs to reflect your actual life. Here is what that means in practice.
Legal Protections Are Real, But They Are Not Complete
The legal landscape for LGBTQ+ couples and families has changed significantly over the past decade. Federal recognition of same-sex marriage since 2015 extended important rights around taxation, Social Security, inheritance, and more. Those protections matter.
But they are not the whole picture.
State laws vary. Legal recognition does not always translate seamlessly into institutional practice. And for couples who are not married, many of the default legal protections that married couples receive simply do not apply.
This is why estate planning and beneficiary designations are not optional for LGBTQ+ individuals and families. They are essential. Without the right documents in place, a partner may have no legal standing in a medical emergency. An estate may pass to family members rather than the person who should receive it. Decades of building a life together can be complicated by a form that was never updated.
The documents that matter most are straightforward: a will, a durable power of attorney, a healthcare proxy, and properly named beneficiaries on every financial account. Together, they create the legal framework that reflects your wishes and protects the people you love.
Beneficiary Designations Deserve Extra Attention
For LGBTQ+ couples, and particularly for those who are unmarried, beneficiary designations carry more weight than most people realize.
Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and many financial accounts pass directly to whoever is named on the designation form, regardless of what your will says. If those forms are outdated, blank, or name the wrong person, the consequences can be significant and in many cases irreversible.
For married same-sex couples, some employer retirement plans still require specific documentation to recognize a spouse as the beneficiary. It is worth confirming that your accounts reflect your wishes and that your partner is properly named and recognized.
For unmarried partners, this is even more critical. Without a beneficiary designation, your partner may have no legal claim to assets you intended for them. A thirty-minute review of your accounts can close that gap entirely.
Retirement and Social Security Planning
Married same-sex couples now have access to the same federal Social Security spousal and survivor benefits as opposite-sex couples. For couples where one partner earned significantly more over their lifetime, or where one partner took time away from the workforce, this can be a meaningful part of retirement income planning.
Optimizing when and how each partner claims Social Security is a strategy worth exploring well before retirement. The right approach depends on your ages, your earnings records, your health, and your broader financial picture.
Building Families Looks Different and Costs More to Plan For
For LGBTQ+ couples building families through adoption, surrogacy, or foster care, the financial and legal planning involved is more complex than many people anticipate. Legal costs, medical costs, and the process of establishing parental rights all carry financial implications that deserve attention early.
Estate planning early in the family formation process can also be important. Confirming that parental rights, guardianship provisions, and beneficiary designations are reviewed and updated as needed may help align legal documents with the family’s intended structure and wishes.
Working With an Advisor Who Gets It
For many individuals and families, it is important to work with professionals who understand the legal, tax, and planning issues relevant to their circumstances.
An advisor who assumes a standard template applies, who does not know to ask about beneficiary documentation for a same-sex spouse, or who is unfamiliar with the specific legal considerations for unmarried partners, may give you advice that is technically correct but practically incomplete.At Keel, we believe that deeper planning starts with deeper understanding. That means taking the time to learn about your actual situation, your family structure, your goals, and the legal landscape that applies to your life specifically.The objective is to ensure that financial planning recommendations are considered in light of each person’s actual circumstances rather than relying on generalized assumptions.
You deserve a financial plan that reflects who you actually are. And you deserve to work with someone who makes you feel seen from the very first conversation.
A Starting Point
If you are an LGBTQ+ individual or couple who has not recently reviewed your estate documents, beneficiary designations, or retirement strategy, those are the places to begin. If you are building a family and have not yet thought through the financial and legal planning involved, now is a good time to start that conversation.
Individuals and families who want to review these topics may wish to speak with qualified legal, tax, and financial professionals about their specific circumstances.
Disclosures:
The opinions voiced in this material are for general informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Any examples are hypothetical and are provided for illustrative purposes only.
Financial planning is a process designed to help evaluate a person’s current financial situation, goals, and priorities and to identify possible planning considerations; it does not guarantee any specific outcome or achievement of goals.
Artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools have been used to assist with drafting, formatting, summarization, or editing this material. Any AI-assisted content has been reviewed by Winthrop Wealth prior to use. AI tools are not used to provide personalized investment advice, recommendations, or individualized financial planning analysis.
