Estate Planning for DINK Households (Dual-Income, No Kids) in NJ

You don’t have children—so the legal defaults don’t fit. If you do nothing, New Jersey statutes decide who makes medical and financial decisions, and distant relatives may inherit by default. Banks honor beneficiary forms, not intentions. Hospitals follow signed Healthcare Proxies and HIPAA releases, not relationships. And NJ probate is public and creditor-first, with a realistic 3–7% administrative drag once you add commissions, legal/accounting fees, bond premiums, appraisals, and delays. DINK planning is about picking your people, protecting each other, and directing impact to family, friends, or charities—quietly and efficiently.

What Couples-Focused Planning Looks Like

• Name Who Can Act:

  • DPOA — Durable Power Of Attorney (financial).

  • AD — Advance Directive/Healthcare Proxy + HIPAA — Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act release (medical).

  • Wallet cards + secure digital access so hospitals and banks cooperate now.

• Avoid Probate With A Funded RLT:
  Put the home, shore place, and non-retirement accounts in a Revocable Living Trust (RLT). Your successor trustee—not a court—keeps the lights on and follows your instructions.

• Design Beneficiaries (Since There Are No Kids):
  Choose siblings, nieces/nephews, parents, friends, and charities. Use lifetime protective trusts (HEMS—Health, Education, Maintenance, Support) instead of outright gifts so inheritances aren’t lost to divorce, creditors, or overspending.

• Make Retirement Dollars SECURE-Act Smart:
  Name an SRT — Stand-Alone Retirement Trust (usually accumulation style) to pace the 10-year rule, coordinate tax brackets, and protect beneficiaries (especially younger or non-spouse takers).

• Direct Your Impact:
  Use a DAF — Donor-Advised Fund for simple, ongoing giving, or a CRT — Charitable Remainder Trust to diversify low-basis assets, create lifetime income for a loved one, and leave a remainder to charity.

• Real Estate Without Fights:
  Title personal-use property to your RLT (via Bargain & Sale Deed in NJ). For rentals, use LLCs owned by your RLT. Write sale/keep instructions and, if leaving a property to multiple people, add use/buy-out rules.

• Pet Care & Parents:
  Add a Pet Trust for animals and targeted support clauses if you help aging parents.

Sample Arrangements

Illustrative Examples

• Summit Professionals: Joint design with coordinated RLTs; condo deeded in; beneficiaries = two nieces in lifetime trusts + a DAF for the arts; retirement to an SRT.

• Hoboken + Shore: Primary and shore homes titled to the RLT; shore charter says “sell at second death unless X,” proceeds to siblings/friends in trusts; small CRT for low-basis stock; umbrella insurance updated.

• Entrepreneurial DINKs: Post-liquidity CRT for concentrated shares; ILIT (Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust) for estate liquidity; SRT for retirement dollars; specific bequests to close friends with protective trusts.

Common Dual-Income Mistakes We Prevent

• No Healthcare Proxy/HIPAA → partner/friend locked out at the hospital.

• Outright beneficiaries on IRAs → fast taxes + zero protection under the 10-year rule.

• Unfunded RLT → probate anyway.

• Leaving a house to “both friends” with no use/buy-out plan → conflict and fire sale.

• Forgetting NJ inheritance tax on non-Class-A beneficiaries.

How We Work

Design → Draft → Fund → Maintain

1. DDM — Design & Discovery Meeting: People who matter (partners, siblings, friends, charities), assets, real estate, and goals.

2. Documents: RLT + pour-over Will; DPOA, AD/HIPAA; beneficiary trusts; SRT; DAF/CRT as indicated; Pet Trust if needed.

3. Funding (Non-Optional): Bargain & Sale deeds, account retitling, POD/TOD, retirement/insurance beneficiary updates; confirmations stored in your secure vault.

4. Maintenance: AMP — Annual Maintenance Program (annual review, funding/beneficiary audit, trustee training) or CCP — Continuing Counsel Plan (quarterly Advisor Summits with CPA/EA, CFP®/RIA; ILIT/SRT oversight).

Details and Potential Considerations

• Portability/Marital: Married DINKs benefit from CST/QTIP/Clayton + Form 706 for DSUE — Deceased Spousal Unused Exclusion; basis vs. transfer-tax memo included.

• SECURE-Aware Drafting: Accumulation SRTs, separate-account preservation, charitable remainder overlays where helpful.

• Entity/Real Estate: RLT-owned LLC equity, cap-table and buy-sell terms; 1031 optionality maintained.

• Charitable Compliance: CRT qualification tests; DAF sponsor diligence on complex assets; 8283/709/706 coordination.

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FAQs

We’re married but child-free. Do we still need a CST/QTIP?
Often yes; CST/QTIP/Clayton plus a 706 portability filing captures growth outside the survivor’s estate and gives basis flexibility.

Can we leave everything to friends or charities?
Absolutely—do it through your RLT (and SRT for retirement) with clear percentages and protective trusts. We’ll manage NJ inheritance-tax exposure.

Do I need a trust if I already have beneficiaries on accounts?
Beneficiaries don’t handle incapacity, real estate, or nuanced protections. The trust is your hub; beneficiaries are the wiring we align to it.

What if we don’t agree on the shore house’s future?
Write it now: sell, keep with a manager, or staged buy-out. We put the rules in your trust to avoid fights later.