Description
The Accredited Domestic Partnership Advisor course introduces students to the unique financial planning needs of couples who are called domestic partners, and offers the opportunity to earn the Accredited Domestic Partnership AdvisorSM, or ADPA®, designation.
Specifically, the curriculum addresses the financial planning needs of unmarried, coupled persons who are treated differently from legally married couples. Collectively, such couples are referred to as domestic partners. This group includes couples who have never married under the laws of any state or foreign jurisdiction. Unmarried couples can include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, as well as heterosexual couples who have chosen not to marry. Domestic partners can also include two people—whether of the same or opposite sex—who live together but are not a “couple” in the sense that there is no romantic or sexual attraction. An example of such domestic partners would be two sisters, two brothers, or a sister and a brother who are living together in their old age to lower expenses, have companionship, and who wish to leave some or all of their wealth to the survivor.
The content of this course is divided into five modules, which cover the following topics:
Wealth Transfers for Domestic Partners
Federal Taxation Issues for Domestic Partners
Retirement Planning and Relationship Issues for Domestic Partners
Planning for Financial, Medical, & End-of-Life Needs of Domestic Partners
Qualitative Planning Considerations
Each module is divided into several chapters that cover key topic areas and correspond to the course learning objectives. The learning objectives are listed as a group at the beginning of each module, and then as you progress through each chapter, individual learning objectives are repeated as they introduce relevant discussions.
To meet the expected goals of the Accredited Domestic Partnership AdvisorSM program, you must be able to perform the actions specified in the stated learning objectives. To help you achieve these goals, each module of this course includes a series of review questions that focus on each learning objective. These questions help to direct and stimulate your learning experience. Answers to the review questions are provided so that you may obtain immediate feedback, but you should provide your own answers before looking at these sample answers. In addition, once you have completed your work in the study materials, you have the opportunity to measure your comprehension of materials in relation to learning objectives by completing the Self-Study Examination included with this course. Plan to invest approximately 60–80 hours of study time for this course.
Learning Objectives
Program Objectives: Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
Identify domestic partners who require alternative financial planning from that done for legally married couples.
Identify factors and situations that cause financial planning for domestic partners to be different from financial planning for legally married spouses.
Identify factors that cause some wealth transfer techniques to be unavailable to domestic partners, or to not work as well for domestic partners than for legally married spouses.
Identify factors and situations that cause domestic partners to be taxed differently than legally married spouses.
Identify factors that domestic partners face in planning for incompetency, disability, medical, and end-of-life needs.
Identify retirement and relationship rights that domestic partners do not have in certain situations that can have impacts on their financial planning.
Identify alternative planning solutions for the financial planning problems that are unique to domestic partners.
Identify economics theories and research upon which behavioral finance is based.
Understand how attitudes toward money originate and manifest themselves in personal relationships and ownership attitudes.
Understand how financial advisers can assist their clients with money disorders and elder abuse.