After a Spouse's Death: 4 Essential Steps
This is always a difficult topic, but one many face at some point. It is pivotal during this time that your financial team handle this transition well.
Let’s look at a few considerations if/when it does happen.
In the days following a spouse's passing, even everyday tasks can feel overwhelming. However, there are crucial financial actions to take to ensure a smooth transition.
1. Connect with Your Financial Team
Having a trusted team of professionals – attorney, accountant, and financial advisor – is valuable. These professionals will provide professional guidance during this emotional time. If you lack these professionals, seek recommendations from trusted friends or family. Delegating these tasks and seeking a third party birds-eye view can be a significant help.
2. Secure Essential Documents
It’s terrific to avoid probate if possible. Hopefully beneficiaries, wills, or trusts were in place before the passing. Locate the needed documents that your financial team will need to avoid probate. Having an estate plan ahead of time is important. If you don’t have a plan yet, you should consider checking beneficiaries on all of your accounts, creating or updating your trust and will. You'll also need multiple copies of the death certificate for the different institutions.
3. Contact Key Organizations
Your attorney, CPA, and financial advisor are crucial, but there are a few other folks you'll want to reach out to as well:
Social Security Administration: Explore survivor benefits you may be eligible for.
Insurance Companies: Review your auto, home, life insurance, and health insurance changes.
Credit Bureaus: Report your spouse's death to help prevent identity theft.
Employers (Current & Past): Follow up on any retirement accounts, pensions, or unclaimed benefits. This step is often overlooked.
Don't Overlook Unclaimed Benefits:
Some people forget about retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and pensions left with past employers. These benefits can go unclaimed for years.
Take action: Contact current and past employers of your spouse to inquire about any unclaimed benefits.
Be proactive: Don't wait for these companies to reach out – they may not be able to locate you.
4. Update Asset Ownership
Gather the death certificate to update ownership of bank accounts, investments, property titles, and vehicles. This helps ensure legal access to these assets.
We know this will be a difficult time. We recommend not making any quick decisions. We hope this information helps ease some of the burden of managing the logistical and financial aspects of your loss. Remember, you're not alone. We consider ourselves a community, so please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. We're here to support you in any way we can.