By Chuck Roulet, Estate Planning & Elder Law Attorney | Licensed in Florida & Minnesota | Full Bio Here
Leaving everything outright to your spouse can expose your family's assets to your spouse's future remarriage, divorce, lawsuits, creditors, and a bigger tax bill. A better plan lets your spouse benefit during their life while protecting it — and your own children's inheritance — no matter what happens after you're gone.
The Story That Explains Why This Matters
A few years ago, I was visiting my in-laws at their lake cottage in northern Wisconsin when I witnessed a confrontation play out across the water. A pontoon boat was anchored just off a neighboring dock, and the people on it were arguing with a family standing on the dock — loud enough that we could hear it from across the lake. A neighbor later filled me in on what was actually going on.
The home on that dock had been built by the grandparents of the people in the pontoon boat. It had passed down to their mom. When she died, her husband inherited the home outright. He remarried. Years later, he passed away too, and the home went to his new wife.
The people in the pontoon boat were his kids — his late wife's children. The family standing on the dock, the ones they were shouting at, were his second wife's family. They now legally owned the home his kids' own grandparents had built, and his kids had no legal claim to it at all.
Let me ask you a question: How would you feel if the family cabin, the farm, or the business you inherited ended up in the hands of someone you never met?
This happens more often than most people realize. It doesn't just happen to lake homes, either. The same pattern shows up with family farms and family businesses — anything passed down that later lands in the hands of a surviving spouse with no protections in place.
What “Leaving Everything to Your Spouse” Actually Means
Most married couples write their wills or set up their accounts so that everything goes to the surviving spouse. It feels like the simplest, safest choice. But in the eyes of the law, it means something specific: your spouse now owns everything outright, with no conditions attached.
That means your spouse can do whatever they want with it — including deciding, later, who gets it when they pass away. Nothing you decided while you were alive follows the money forward. That one fact is the root of every risk below.
Five Risks of Leaving Everything Outright to Your Spouse
Risk 1: Remarriage, Then Divorce
If your spouse remarries after you're gone and that marriage later ends in divorce, some or all of what they inherited from you can become part of that divorce. Assets that came entirely from your side of the family could end up divided with someone you never met.
Risk 2: Remarriage, Then Your Spouse Passes Away
This is what happened in the story above. What happens after your spouse remarries and later passes away isn't guaranteed one way or the other. Some states give children from a prior marriage certain legal protections, but those rules vary a lot — by state, by how long the remarriage lasted, and by whether there are children shared with the new spouse.
Often, the surviving spouse does go on to write a new estate plan. But if nothing was set up ahead of time to prevent it, that plan usually gives them the right to change it whenever they want — and many do, especially once a new marriage and new stepchildren become part of daily life. Without something built into your own plan in advance, the home you built, the business you grew, or the money you saved can end up entirely with a family your own children have no relationship to.
Risk 3: Lawsuits Against Your Spouse
Once your spouse owns something outright, it's exposed to their legal troubles — not just yours. A car accident, a business dispute, or any lawsuit against your spouse can reach the very assets you spent decades building, even though you're the one who built them.
Risk 4: Creditors and Bankruptcy
The same idea applies to debt. If your spouse runs into serious financial trouble or files for bankruptcy after you're gone, everything they inherited from you outright can be reached by creditors, just like anything else they own.
Risk 5: A Wasted Estate Tax Exemption
Leaving everything to a spouse avoids estate tax at the first death. But it can waste the tax exemption the first spouse was entitled to use, which can mean a bigger tax bill later, when the surviving spouse passes everything on to the kids.
This matters even more if you live in Minnesota. Minnesota has its own state estate tax with an exemption far lower than the federal one. Florida has no state estate tax at all. If your life or your assets span both states, knowing which rules apply, and how much of your exemption is actually protected, takes planning from an attorney who understands both.
Why “I Trust My Spouse Completely” Doesn't Solve This
This is the most common response we hear, and it makes sense. But none of the five risks above have anything to do with whether you trust your spouse. They're about what happens automatically once someone owns something outright: their future remarriage, their lawsuits, their creditors, and their tax situation all become tied to what you built — no matter how much you trust them or how good their intentions are.
What Actually Protects Your Family
The fix doesn't mean giving your spouse less. Instead of leaving assets to your spouse outright, they can be held in trust for your spouse's benefit. Your spouse can still use everything freely for the rest of their life — the income, and often the principal, whenever they need it.
What changes is that your spouse never owns it outright. That means it isn't reachable in a future remarriage, divorce, lawsuit, or bankruptcy, and it isn't part of their taxable estate when they die. Just as important, you decide in advance where it goes afterward — typically back to your own children — instead of leaving that decision to whoever your spouse happens to be married to when they pass away.
There are a few different types of trusts that can accomplish this, each suited to different goals. We cover those specific tools in a dedicated article and video — linked below.
It's Not Just Homes: Farms and Businesses Face the Same Risk
We've seen this exact pattern play out with family farms and family businesses, not just homes. A farm passed down for generations, or a business built over decades, is just as exposed to a surviving spouse's remarriage, lawsuits, or creditors as any other asset. If what you're protecting is meant to stay in the family for generations, this matters just as much here — maybe more.
This Only Works While Both Spouses Are Alive
Once the first spouse has already passed away and left everything outright, there's no way to add these protections after the fact. This has to be built into your plan while both of you are here to do it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it a bad idea to leave everything to my spouse?
Not always, but leaving everything outright, with no protections, can expose it to your spouse's future remarriage, lawsuits, creditors, and a larger tax bill. A trust can protect your spouse and your family without giving up anything your spouse actually needs.
What happens to my inheritance if my spouse remarries after I die?
Without protections in place, whatever you left your spouse becomes fully theirs to control, including deciding who inherits it later. If they remarry and then pass away, their new spouse typically inherits it, which can leave your own children with nothing.
Can my spouse still use the money if it's held in trust instead of left outright?
Yes. A properly drafted trust lets your spouse use the income, and often the principal, for their needs for the rest of their life. What changes is who owns it and where it goes afterward, not whether your spouse can access it.
Does Minnesota or Florida tax my estate more?
Minnesota has its own state estate tax with an exemption far lower than the federal exemption. Florida has no state estate tax. If you have ties to both states, an attorney licensed in both can help you understand which rules apply to your family.
Call Us Today to Schedule a Consultation to Discuss Your Own Planning at (941) 909-4644 for our Florida office or at (763) 420-5087 for our Minnetonka, Minnesota office. Or you can fill out the contact form on this page and a member of our team will reach out to you to schedule.
About Chuck Roulet
Chuck Roulet is an estate planning and elder law attorney with nearly 30 years of experience, licensed in both Minnesota and Florida. He is the founding attorney of Roulet Law Firm, P.A., with offices in Minnetonka, Minnesota and Venice, Florida.
Chuck has trained more than 35,000 attorneys and financial professionals as a continuing legal education speaker, and has been featured in USA Today, The Epoch Times, Money Matters, and Live Life Large. He is the author of The Florida Snowbird Guide and the Save Our Home consumer guide, and has authored three books on estate planning and elder law topics.
His dual Minnesota and Florida licensure — one of a small number of attorneys in the country with active licenses in both states practicing exclusively in this area — allows him to serve clients whose lives and assets span both states, including Minnesota snowbirds and families in the process of establishing Florida residency.
This article is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation.
