Bride Alert! Is Long Term Care Insurance in Your Prenup?

Prenuptial agreements are popular with brides of a certain age (40-plus), who often have accumulated assets, careers, and lifestyles they want to protect. Now there's a new prenup wrinkle, a clause specifying that hubby-to-be get a long term care insurance policy before walking down the aisle. The development is reported by LTC Financial Partners LLC (LTCFP), one of the nation's most experienced long term care insurance agencies.

According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, there were 2.2 million marriages in 2007, and the number is expected to increase in 2008 and beyond. "A prenup requiring long term care insurance makes sense for any couple concerned about protecting their assets, careers, or ways of life," says Susan Lenihan, Partner of Northport-based LTCFP. "The bride should be especially concerned, since women live longer than men and tend to inherit the care-giving chores." These chores can be quite disruptive for career-minded women who may be forced to quit their jobs to tend the intended.

"I love the guy, but I'm not signing up to be his nurse or purse," says Sarah, a 50-plus California resident, now engaged to a man her own age. So she's insisting, prior to the wedding bells, that her intended cover himself with a policy like the one she has, which will pay for nursing-home or in-home care should she become ill or incapacitated for an extended period.

Caring for an out-of-commission loved one can be a real drain on one's time and money, without professional help to do the caring and insurance dollars to pay the bills. "Like millions of other women over 40, Sarah knows first-hand what caring entails," says Paula Taylor, Sarah's long term care insurance agent, an associate of Lenihan. "And she's not getting married to repeat the experience," Taylor emphasizes. "She spent countless hours caring for her now-deceased stepmother and father, and for a friend who died of cancer, and now wants a life of her own."

Sarah wants her marriage to be mutually fulfilling, not a potential drain. "With her husband-to-be covered by long term care insurance, Sarah's assets will be protected," says Taylor. "Her time and lifestyle will also be protected. Also she has children and grandchildren who’s inheritance will be protected. Should the need for care materialize, she can spend quality time with her husband, letting others perform the nursing chores; and she can relax knowing that her own financial future will be secure."

For Sarah's intended, there's a silver lining. "By getting married instead of staying single, he can get a discount on his long term care policy," says Lenihan. "And of course he can also enjoy the benefits Sarah enjoys with her policy: protection of his own assets and peace of mind knowing he will not burden his children with future care expenses or chores." Sarah's new husband will also benefit from the fact that Sarah is already covered. "He won't have to worry about becoming her nurse or purse, should she require care before he does."

Susan Lenihan and LTCFP's 500 other associates are spreading the word to other brides-to-be, especially the 40-plus set. "Wedding bells should signal wonderful times ahead, not cloudy possibilities that can be avoided," she says.

Susan also works with couples' lawyers and financial advisors to include LTC protection in estate plans as well as prenuptial agreements.