4 things you MUST figure out before getting married.. Very important!

3. What are our state’s laws regarding assets? 

There’s no universal law that applies to how your assets will be distributed in the event of your death. Rather, each state determines how assets will be handled should you pass away. And how your state handles your assets “may or may not be consistent with how a couple would want their assets to pass,” Ruckel points out.

So before you tie the knot, it’s important to learn how your state would distribute your assets after death — and if you don’t agree with its methodology, it might be time to set up a will. “A will or a trust will supersede what the law says with respect to how the persons assets will pass at death,” Ruckel says.