They know your coffee order. They’ve sat with you through every hard thing. You’ve shared a home, built savings, maybe raised children or pets or both. You’ve been together longer than most marriages last. But in the eyes of California law, if you’re not legally married, your partner is a legal stranger — with no automatic right to your assets, your home, your medical decisions, or even a say in what happens to you if you’re incapacitated.

For LGBTQ individuals and couples who are unmarried — by choice, by circumstance, or because marriage simply isn’t the right path for them — this legal reality can have devastating consequences. The good news is that estate planning exists precisely to bridge this gap. The bad news is that most people wait too long to use it.

What California Law Actually Says About Unmarried Partners

California’s intestate succession laws — the rules that govern who inherits when someone dies without a trust or will — are unambiguous: unmarried partners inherit nothing. Under California Probate Code §21103 and the intestate succession framework of Probate Code §6400 et seq., assets pass to spouses, children, parents, and siblings, in that order. No matter how long you’ve been together, no matter how intertwined your finances are, an unmarried partner has no legal claim to a single dollar.

California does recognize registered domestic partnerships, which carry many of the same rights as marriage under state law — including inheritance rights. But domestic partnership registration requires a formal filing with the California Secretary of State, and many long-term couples, particularly in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and Palm Springs, simply haven’t done it. And even for those who have, domestic partnership status does not protect you from a partner’s family challenging your rights or contesting your access to shared property.

The bottom line: without legal documentation, your relationship — however deep and committed — carries no weight in a California courtroom.

The Three Scenarios That End Badly Without an Estate Plan

First: your partner is hospitalized and incapacitated. Without a valid Advance Healthcare Directive naming you as their agent, the hospital turns to next of kin for medical decisions. That could mean a parent who was never supportive, a sibling who hasn’t spoken to them in years, or a family member who actively opposes your relationship. You — the person who knows them best — may be locked out entirely.

Second: your partner dies without a trust or will. Their half of your shared home, their savings, their personal property — all of it passes under California’s intestate succession rules to biological relatives. You may be left negotiating with in-laws for the right to keep living in a home you helped pay for. This isn’t a worst-case scenario. It’s a documented pattern that estate planning attorneys see regularly.

Third: you become incapacitated and can no longer manage your own finances. Without a durable Power of Attorney naming your partner, they have no legal authority to pay your bills, manage your accounts, or make financial decisions on your behalf — even if your money is sitting in a joint account. Court-supervised conservatorship proceedings may be required, at significant cost and delay, before anyone can act.

What a Solid Estate Plan Actually Does for Unmarried Partners

A properly drafted estate plan closes every one of these gaps. At its core, it should include a revocable trust, a pour-over will, a durable Power of Attorney, and an Advance Healthcare Directive. Together, these documents give your partner the legal authority to act on your behalf during your lifetime and ensure they receive what you intend when you’re gone — without court involvement, without family interference, and without delay. The IRS recognizes that unmarried partners have no automatic federal inheritance rights, which makes the trust structure even more critical: unlike a spouse, an unmarried partner cannot take advantage of the unlimited marital deduction for estate tax purposes, making tax-efficient planning especially important for larger estates.

A revocable trust is particularly powerful here because it is nearly impossible to contest compared to a standalone will. Under California Probate Code §15800 et seq., the trust governs your assets during your lifetime and transfers them privately at death — no probate, no public record, no opportunity for estranged relatives to intervene. You can name your partner as both successor trustee and primary beneficiary, ensuring they have both the authority and the inheritance you intend.

Your Advance Healthcare Directive should explicitly name your partner as your healthcare agent and include a HIPAA authorization allowing them to access your medical records and communicate with your doctors. Without it, federal and California privacy law may prevent hospital staff from even confirming your condition to the person sitting in the waiting room.

A Note on the Political Landscape

Same-sex marriage has been federally protected since the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges — but the legal landscape around LGBTQ rights has grown less predictable in recent years. For unmarried LGBTQ couples, relying on the assumption that marriage is always an available safety net is a risk. The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law estimates that a significant portion of same-sex couples in California remain unmarried by choice. For all of them, a comprehensive estate plan is not optional — it is the only legal framework that guarantees their partner is protected regardless of how the broader legal environment evolves.

Your Relationship Deserves Legal Recognition. Let’s Make Sure It Has It.

At Kushner Legal Corporation, we specialize in estate planning for LGBTQ individuals and couples throughout Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Palm Springs. We understand that your family may not look like the one the Probate Code was written for — and we know exactly how to make the law work for the family you’ve actually built.

Don’t leave the most important relationship in your life legally unprotected. One conversation can change everything.
Contact Kushner Legal Corporation today to schedule your estate planning consultation. We’re here to make sure the law catches up to your life.

Kushner Legal Corporation serves clients throughout Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Palm Springs, California, with a focus on LGBTQ-inclusive estate planning, revocable trusts, wills, Powers of Attorney, and probate administration.