Social Security Mistakes could cost Thousands

April 7, 2021

Motley Fool’s recent article entitled “5 Social Security Oversights” says that these five Social Security mistakes could cost thousands in your retirement.

Claiming Social Security early while you’re still working. You can claim your Social Security retirement benefit as young as age 62, but your benefits will be permanently reduced when compared with the amount you would receive if you waited until your full retirement age. Social Security will also penalize you for continuing to work while collecting benefits, if you are younger than your full retirement age.
Failing to claim Social Security by your 70th birthday. Once you hit age 62, your benefit increases the longer you wait to claim, until you reach 70. You don’t have to claim your benefit by your 70th birthday, but there is no more benefit for waiting at that point.
Delaying past your full retirement age to claim Social Security spousal benefits. If you’re claiming Social Security benefits based on your own income record, it’s smart to wait past your full retirement age to start taking benefits. However, if you’re claiming based on your spouse’s benefits, there’s no benefit to delay beyond your full retirement age to claim. As a result, married couples of similar ages who have vastly different earned incomes have a dilemma: for you to claim spousal benefits, your spouse also has to have begun claiming benefits based on his or her own earnings record. This combination makes it less worthwhile for the primary breadwinner spouse to wait to collect benefits, if the spouse is expecting to take spousal benefits.
Taxes on Social Security benefits are not adjusted for inflation. Originally, Social Security benefits weren’t taxed. However, in 1984, the government started taxing Social Security benefits once a person’s combined income reached $25,000. Even now, the income level where Social Security starts to get taxed is still at $25,000. Because there is no adjustment for inflation, this makes more of people’s Social Security income taxable. This easily costs even moderate-income retirees thousands of dollars of spendable income over the course of their retirements.
“Tax free” income counts toward making Social Security taxable. Even traditionally tax-free sources of income, like the interest from in-state municipal bonds, is included in the calculations to see how much of your Social Security will be considered taxable. Therefore, seniors who own tax free municipal bonds as part of their retirement portfolio may be surprised to find that those bonds are what’s causing their Social Security to be taxed. Seniors who find themselves in that situation may want to reevaluate their choice to be invested in those tax-free municipal bonds.

Despite how simple Social Security may appear, these five situations show how mistakes could cost thousands of dollars. If you would like to learn more about Social Security, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Motley Fool (March 14, 2021) “5 Social Security Oversights”

wise to revise your planning with a second marriage

Maximize Your Social Security Benefits

March 11, 2021

The desire to maximize your Social Security benefits is a relatively new phenomenon. For decades, people received their monthly benefit check and that was it. However, in the late 1990s, a new law let seniors over age 66 work without any reduction in benefits, says the article “Social Security & You: Seniors obsess over ‘maximizing’ their Social Security” from Tuscon.com. The law led to loopholes that became known as “file and suspend” and “file and restrict.” In a nutshell, they allowed retirees to collect dependent spousal benefits on a spouse’s Social Security record, while delaying their own benefits until age 70.

Congress eventually realized that these loopholes violated the basic concept of the program. Benefits to spouses were always known as “dependent” benefits. To claim benefits as a spouse, you had to prove that you were financially dependent upon the other spouse to collect benefits on their record. However, the loophole let people who were the primary wage earner in the family claim benefits as a “dependent” of the other spouse. Five years ago, Congress closed that loophole.

More specifically, Congress closed the ability to file-and-suspend. It also put file-and-restrict on notice. If you turned 66 before January 2020, you could still wiggle through that loophole, and there are some people who are still eligible. That’s where the term “maximizing your Social Security benefits” originated.

Can you get a bigger Social Security check, if you don’t fit into the exception noted above? The only real strategy to maximize your social security benefits is simply to wait. The equation is pretty simple. If you wait until your Full Retirement Age (FRA), you will receive 100% of your benefit rate. If you can wait until age 70, you’ll receive 132% of your benefit.

In some households, the higher income earner waits until age 70 to file for retirement, so that the surviving spouse will one day receive higher surviving spouse benefits.

But that’s not the best advice for everyone. If you or your spouse suffer from a chronic illness, it may not make sense to wait.

If you or your spouse have lost your jobs, as so many have because of the pandemic, then Social Security may be the safety net that you need, until you are able to return to some kind of paid employment.

There may be other reasons why you might need to take your benefits earlier, even earlier than your FRA. Some households start taking their Social Security benefits at age 62, as a way to augment other income.

If you don’t already have a “My Social Security” account set up on the Social Security Administration’s portal, now is the time to do so. The Social Security Administration stopped sending annual statements years ago, but you can go into your account and download the statements yourself and start planning for your future. There are ways to maximize your Social Security benefits, but you will need to take advantage now. Work with your financial advisor and estate planning attorney to see if you qualify.

If you would like to learn more about Social Security benefits, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Tuscon.com (Feb. 10, 2021) “Social Security & You: Seniors obsess over ‘maximizing’ their Social Security”

Understanding the responsibilities of the conservator

February 19, 2021

If you have been named a conservator, or have been approached by a family member about the role, it is vital that you are understanding the responsibilities of the conservator. A conservator is appointed by a judge. This person handles the estate of an incapacitated adult, as well as their finances, their basic affairs and everyday care. Administrative matters such as Medicare, insurance, pensions, and medical coverage are all also managed by the conservator. The conservator must keep meticulous records that are subject to review by the judge.

The Advocate’s recent article entitled “Alzheimer’s Q&A: What is adult guardianship?” explains that a conservatorship typically lasts as long as the individual lives. The conservator may change because of death, relocation, or an inability to manage the conservator duties and responsibilities. A judge also has the power to replace the conservator, if he or she is repeatedly making poor decisions or neglecting required responsibilities.

A conservator can be wise in some situations because it lets family members know that someone is making the decisions. It also provides clear legal authority to deal with third parties. There is also a process in which a judge will approve any major decisions. However, appointing a conservator can be expensive. An experienced estate planning or elder law attorney must complete court paperwork and attend court hearings. A conservatorship can also be time-consuming due to the required ongoing paperwork.

A big question is when it is appropriate to seek conservatorship. If the individual has become mentally or physically incapable of making important decisions for himself or herself, then it would be smart to have a court-appointed guardian. Moreover, if the person does not already have legal documents in place, like a living will or power of attorney, then the conservatorship would benefit in covering decisions about personal and financial matters.

Even if the individual has a power of attorney for both health care and finances, he or she might need a conservator to make decisions about his or her personal life. This can include topics, such as living arrangements and who is allowed to visit. It is not always easy to determine if an individual can make decisions, but a judge understands that a conservator is viable for those with advanced Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

Families that want to set up a conservatorship need to file formal legal papers and participate in a court hearing before a judge. Evidence of the physical and mental condition of the individual requiring conservatorship must be clearly presented. The person who is the subject of the conservatorship has the opportunity to contest it. Ask an experienced estate planning or elder law attorney who specializes in conservatorships to provide you a complete understanding of the responsibilities of the conservator.

If you would like to learn more about conservatorship and guardianship, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The Advocate (Jan. 25, 2021) “Alzheimer’s Q&A: What is adult guardianship?”

SECURE Act has Changed Special Needs Planning

January 11, 2021

The SECURE Act has changed Special Needs Planning. The SECURE Act eliminated the life expectancy payout for inherited IRAs for most people, but it also preserved the life expectancy option for five classes of eligible beneficiaries, referred to as “EDBs” in a recent article from Morningstar.com titled “Providing for Disabled Beneficiaries After the SECURE Act.” Two categories that are considered EDBs are disabled individuals and chronically ill individuals. Estate planning needs to be structured to take advantage of this option.

The first step is to determine if the individual would be considered disabled or chronically ill within the specific definition of the SECURE Act, which uses almost the same definition as that used by the Social Security Administration to determine eligibility for SS disability benefits.

A person is deemed to be “chronically ill” if they are unable to perform at least two activities of daily living or if they require substantial supervision because of cognitive impairment. A licensed healthcare practitioner certifies this status, typically used when a person enters a nursing home and files a long-term health insurance claim.

However, if the disabled or ill person receives any kind of medical care, subsidized housing or benefits under Medicaid or any government programs that are means-tested, an inheritance will disqualify them from receiving these benefits. They will typically need to spend down the inheritance (or have a court authorized trust created to hold the inheritance), which is likely not what the IRA owner had in mind.

Typically, a family member wishing to leave an inheritance to a disabled person leaves the inheritance to a Supplemental Needs Trust or SNT. This allows the individual to continue to receive benefits but can pay for things not covered by the programs, like eyeglasses, dental care, or vacations. However, does the SNT receive the same life expectancy payout treatment as an IRA?

Thanks to a special provision in the SECURE Act that applies only to the disabled and the chronically ill, a SNT that pays nothing to anyone other than the EDB can use the life expectancy payout. The SECURE Act calls this trust an “Applicable Multi-Beneficiary Trust,” or AMBT.

For other types of EDB, like a surviving spouse, the individual must be named either as the sole beneficiary or, if a trust is used, must be the sole beneficiary of a conduit trust to qualify for the life expectancy payout. Under a conduit trust, all distributions from the inherited IRA or other retirement plan must be paid out to the individual more or less as received during their lifetime. However, the SECURE Act removes that requirement for trusts created for the disabled or chronically ill.

However, not all of the SECURE Act’s impact on special needs planning is smooth sailing. The AMBT must provide that nothing may be paid from the trust to anyone but the disabled individual while they are living. What if the required minimum distribution from the inheritance is higher than what the beneficiary needs for any given year? Let’s say the trustee must withdraw an RMD of $60,000, but the disabled person’s needs are only $20,000? The trust is left with $40,000 of gross income, and there is nowhere for the balance of the gross income to go.

In the past, SNTs included a provision that allowed the trustee to pass excess income to other family members and deduct the amount as distributable net income, shifting the tax liability to family members who might be in a lower tax bracket than the trust.

The SECURE Act has changed Special Needs Planning, but these changes can be addressed by an experienced estate planning attorney.

If you would like to learn more about the SECURE Act, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Morningstar.com (Dec. 9, 2020) “Providing for Disabled Beneficiaries After the SECURE Act”

Retirement Myths Could Do Real Harm

January 4, 2021

While you’re busy planning to retire, chances are good you’ll run into more than a few retirement myths, things that people who otherwise seem sincere and sensible are certain of. However, don’t get waylaid because any one of these retirement myths could do real harm to your plans for an enjoyable retirement. That’s the lesson from a recent article titled “Let’s Leave These 3 Retirement Myths in 2020’s Dust” from Auburn.pub.

You can keep working as long as you want. It’s easy to say this when you are healthy and have a secure job but counting on a delayed retirement strategy leaves you open to many pitfalls. Nearly 40% of current retirees report having retired earlier than planned, according to a study from the Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement. Job losses and health issues are the reasons most people gave for their change of plans. A mere 15% of those surveyed who left the workplace before they had planned on retiring, said they did so because their finances made it possible.

Decades before you plan to retire, you should have a clear understanding of how much of a nest egg you need to retire, while living comfortably during your senior years—which may last for one, two, three or even four decades. If your current plan is far from hitting that target, don’t expect working longer to make up for the shortfall. You might have no control over when you retire, so saving as much as you can right now to prepare is the best defense.

Medicare will cover all of your medical care. Medicare will cover some of costs, but it doesn’t pay for everything. Original Medicare (Parts A and B) covers hospital visits and outpatient care but doesn’t cover vision and dental care. It also doesn’t cover prescription drug costs. Most people do not budget enough in their retirement income plans to cover the costs of medical care, from wellness visits to long-term care. Medicare Advantage plans can provide more extensive coverage, but they often come with higher premiums. The average out-of-pocket healthcare cost for most people is $300,000 throughout retirement.

Social Security is going to disappear. Nearly 90% of Americans depend upon Social Security to fund at least a part of their retirement, according to a Gallup poll, making this federal program a lifeline for Americans. Social Security does have some financial challenges. Since the early 1980s, the program took in more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits, and the surplus went into a trust fund. However, the enormous number of Baby Boomers retiring made 2020, saw the first year the program paid out more money than it took in.

To compensate, it has had to make up the difference with withdrawals from the trust funds. As the number of retirees continues to rise, the surplus may be depleted by 2034. At that point, the Social Security Administration will rely on payroll taxes for retiree benefits. However, that’s if Congress doesn’t figure out a solution before 2034. Benefits may be reduced, but they aren’t going away.

Retirement myths could do real harm, but focusing on the facts will help you remain focused on retirement goals, and not ghost stories. Your retirement planning should also include preparing and maintaining your estate plan. If you would like to learn more about retirement planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Auburn.pub (Dec. 13, 2020) “Let’s Leave These 3 Retirement Myths in 2020’s Dust”

Planning Is Different for a Child with Special Needs

December 16, 2020

Parents and grandparents do all they can to help their children and grandchildren lead their best lives, and that often extends to the child or grandchild’s adult lives. When estate plans are made, people who can afford to, leave money and property to continue to support loved ones. However, planning is different for a child with special needs, explains the article “Planning for loved ones with special needs” from The Sentinel. The child may have been born with a developmental disability or a motor disability or developed mental illness or an addiction.

A person who is not able to work or care for themselves often receives public benefits to pay for food, shelter and medical care. Those public benefits will be jeopardized, if parents or grandparents make the mistake of leaving a gift of money or a bequest. Special needs planning addresses this issue.

Public benefits for people with no assets or income include Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to pay for food and shelter, Medicaid for medical care and the SNAP program for food, among others. Before money is given to a disabled family member or left in an estate plan, a review of the public benefits that are in use or available needs to be done, so benefits are not disrupted.

One example is SSI, a federal program that supports disabled persons who cannot earn enough, which in 2020 means $1,260 or more in a month. A disabled person who earns less than that and owns less than $2,000 in assets can receive $783 monthly to pay for food and shelter. If the person owns the home they live in or owns one car, they may still be considered to have under $2,000 in assets. Clothing and personal belongings are also not counted against the $2,000 asset limit.

However, to continue receiving the full benefit amount, the person cannot receive money from family or friends, since that money could be used for food and shelter. This also applies to “in kind” gifts, such as making a mortgage payment or helping with utility bills. Any direct gift reduces the SSI benefit.

There are ways for parents and grandparents to help their loved one enjoy a better quality of life. However, gifts must be carefully planned and within the laws. For instance, a family member may purchase certain services for a disabled person that would not disrupt their benefits. A parent or grandparent could pay for auto repairs, cell phone and land line phone services, educational expenses, medical care and social services. One very important note: the payments must be made directly to the merchant or provider and not to the disabled person.

There are two primary tools used to consider, when planning for a child with special needs or disabled person:

Special Needs Trust: The gift is placed in the control of a trustee who manages the money, invests it, makes the appropriate tax filing and makes the decision about when to distribute funds.

Most family members don’t understand the web of complex regulations that dictate how public benefits work. Properly created and managed by a responsible trustee, the Special Needs Trust avoids putting the burden of financial care on other family members and lets money be wisely distributed.

Money and property in a Special Needs Trust is not considered to be an asset of the individual, as it is owned by the trust. However, the same restrictions apply to making direct distributions from the trust to the individual beneficiary for food and shelter.

The other account is an ABLE account, created by the Achieving a Better Life Experience law. Anyone can contribute to it and money in the account is not considered income and not counted against the asset limitations. Contributions are currently capped at $15,000 per year, and the account cannot contain more than $100,000.

Distributions from the ABLE account can be used to pay for a wide array of expenses for a disabled person without impacting government benefits. That includes housing, transportation, assistive technology, health, education and other needs. Families need to be aware that the disabled individual owns the assets in the ABLE account. If they are unable to manage money or are susceptible to scams, the family will want to be cautious about putting funds into the account.

If you would like to learn more about planning for a child with special needs, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The Sentinel (Nov. 20, 2020) “Planning for loved ones with special needs”

Different Types of Special Needs Trusts

November 17, 2020

The most frequently used tool to protect and care for children with special needs after both parents has passed is a special needs trust, says Forbes in its article entitled “Making Trusts for Special Needs Children.” A special needs trust is a legal instrument used to provide benefits to an individual with special needs, while also maintaining that person’s ability to receive state or federal benefits assistance. The trust is usually created by a parent or guardian, with the special needs child as the beneficiary. It is important to understand the different types of special needs trusts.

A third-party trustee is often appointed. That person or institution has authority to make disbursements from the assets in the trust on behalf of the beneficiary. This trust lets parents make sure that their child with special needs has his or her needs met after the parents pass away.

Some government benefits used by a person with special needs—such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid are “means tested.” That means they are only available to those who themselves have limited income or assets. If a parent wants to provide support to a child with special needs after the parent’s death, those assets must pass correctly to ensure that the assets don’t cause that child to directly own the assets and thereby lose their government eligibility for the benefits.

Again, any assets left directly to the beneficiary without use of a trust could disrupt the beneficiary’s receipt of benefits, taking money and support away from the beneficiary.

What are the differnt types of special needs trusts? The most common special needs trust is a third-party special needs trust. This trust is funded by family members of the beneficiary to make certain that there are specific assets set aside for the beneficiary’s utility bills, education, entertainment, or most other regular expenses.

There are also first-party trusts, where the trust is established with the assets owned directly by the child with special needs. This can result when the child with special needs receives an inheritance, life insurance payout, or personal injury settlement directly, which may impact their existing benefits.

There are also pooled trusts, which are trusts that are managed by a nonprofit organization. With a pooled trust, the grantor doesn’t have to name a trustee, especially one who may not have experience in managing trust assets. Consequently, the assets are held for the benefit of the child with special needs, but they are managed by an organization with expertise in doing just that.

An ABLE account is another option. They’re not trusts, but they allow up to $15,000 a year to be earmarked for the benefit of a person with special needs. The distribution rules are similar to those of a special needs trust.

It can be difficult to understand the different types of special needs trusts. There is significant complexity with the laws surrounding special needs trusts, so you should work with an experienced estate planning attorney or elder law attorney.

To learn more about special needs planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Forbes (Sep. 10, 2020) “Making Trusts for Special Needs Children”

Benefit from a Roth IRA and Social Security

November 5, 2020

When originally created, Social Security was designed to prevent the elderly and infirm from sinking into dire poverty. When most working Americans enjoyed a pension from their employer, Social Security was an additional source of income and made for a comfortable retirement. However, with an average monthly benefit just over $1,500 and few pensions, today’s Social Security is not enough money for most Americans to maintain a middle-class standard of living, says the article “3 Reasons a Roth IRA Is a Perfect Supplement to Social Security” from Tuscon.com. It’s important to plan for additional income streams and one to consider is the Roth IRA. So how do you benefit from a Roth IRA and Social Security?

Roth IRAs can be funded at any age. Many seniors today are continuing to work to generate income or to continue a fulfilling life. Their earnings can be put into a Roth IRA, regardless of age. If you are still working but don’t need the paycheck, that’s a perfect way to fund the Roth IRA.

Withdrawals from a Roth won’t trigger taxes on Social Security benefits. If your only income is Social Security, you probably won’t have to worry about federal taxes. However, if you are working while you are collecting benefits, once your earnings reach a certain level, those benefits will be taxed.

To calculate taxes on Social Security benefits, you’ll need to determine your provisional income, which is the non-Social Security income plus half of your early benefit. If you earn between $25,000 and $44,000 as a single tax filer or between $32,000 and $44,000 as a married couple, you could be taxed as much as 50% of your Social Security benefits. If your single income goes past $34,000 and married income goes past $44,000, you could be taxed on up to 85% of your benefits.

If you put money into a Roth IRA, withdrawals don’t count towards your provisional income. That could leave you with more money from Social Security.

A Roth IRA is flexible. The Roth IRA is the only tax-advantaged retirement savings plan that does not impose Required Minimum Distributions or RMDs. That’s because you’ve already paid taxes when funds went into the account. However, the flexibility is worth it. You can leave the money in the account for as long as you want, so savings continue to grow tax-free. You can also leave money to your heirs.

While you don’t have to put your savings into a Roth IRA, doing so throughout your career—or starting at any age—will allow you to benefit from a Roth IRA and Social Security throughout retirement.

If you would like to learn more about Social Security and retirement accounts, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Tuscon.com (Oct. 5, 2020) “3 Reasons a Roth IRA Is a Perfect Supplement to Social Security”

Two different types of Durable Power of Attorney

November 4, 2020

There are two different types of durable power of attorney, and they have very different purposes, as explained in the article that asks “Does your estate plan use the right type of Power of Attorney for you?” from Next Avenue. Less than a third of retirees have a financial power of attorney, according to a study done by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. Most people don’t even understand what these documents do, which is critically important, especially during this Covid-19 pandemic.

There are two different types of Durable Power of Attorney for Finance. The power of attorney for finance can be “springing” or “immediate.” The Durable POA refers to the fact that this POA will endure after you have lost mental or physical capacity, whether the condition is permanent or temporary. It lists when the powers are to be granted to the person of your choosing and the power ends upon your death.

The “immediate” Durable POA is effective the moment you sign the document. The “springing” Durable POA does not become effective, unless two physicians examine you and both determine that you cannot manage independently anymore. In the case of the “springing” POA, the person you name cannot do anything on your behalf without two doctors providing letters saying you lack legal capacity.

You might prefer the springing document because you are concerned that the person you have named to be your agent might take advantage of you. They could legally go to your bank and add their name to your accounts without your permission or even awareness. Some people decide to name their spouse as their immediate agent, and if anything happens to the spouse, the successor agents are the ones who need to get doctors’ letters. If you need doctors’ letters before the person you name can help you, ask your estate planning attorney for guidance.

The type of impairment that requires the use of a Durable POA for finance can happen unexpectedly. It could include you and your spouse at the same time. If you were both exposed to Covid-19 and became sick, or if you were both in a serious car accident, this kind of planning would be helpful for your family.

It’s also important to choose the right person to be your POA. Ask yourself this question: If you gave this person your checkbook and asked them to pay your bills on time for a few months, would you expect that they would be able to do the job without any issues? If you feel any sense of incompetence or even mistrust, you should consider another person to be your representative.

If you should recover from your incapacity, your Durable POA is required to turn everything back to you when you ask. If you are concerned this person won’t do this, you need to consider another person.

Broad powers are granted by a Durable POA. They allow your representative to buy property on your behalf and sell your property, including your home, manage your debt and Social Security benefits, file tax returns and handle any assets not named in a trust, such as your retirement accounts.

The executor of your will, your trustee, and Durable POA are often the same person. They have the responsibility to manage all of your assets, so they need to know where all of your important records can be found. They need to know that you have given them this role and you need to be sure they are prepared and willing to accept the responsibilities involved.

Your advance directive documents are only as good as the individuals you name to implement them. Family members or trusted friends who have no experience managing money or assets may not be the right choice. Your estate planning attorney will be able to guide you to make a good decision.

If you would like to learn more about powers of attorney and their role in estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Market Watch (Oct. 5, 2020) “Does your estate plan use the right type of Power of Attorney for you?”

What Needs to Happen after a Spouse Dies?

September 23, 2020

What needs to happen after a spouse dies? Making funeral arrangements, paying medical bills and closing down accounts are just the start of the tasks that a surviving spouse must take charge of, advises the recent article “Checklist for Handling the Death of a Spouse” from U.S. News & World Report. It can be overwhelming, especially with the intense emotions that come with such a large loss.

Having a checklist of specific tasks after a spouse dies may make this difficult time less stressful. This is because you will be able to see what has been accomplished, and what is yet to come.

Start by getting organized. Make a list of what you need to do and add to it as you think of new tasks. You should also track what you are doing, using a notebook to keep a record of who you spoke with and when. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask a family member or trusted friend. Being organized is a big help, when there are so many things that need to be done during such a hard time.

Review your spouse’s will and estate plan. Gather all the documents, from their last will and testament to insurance policies, trust paperwork and related documents. Call your estate planning attorney, since she can help you with settling the estate.

Identify the executor. If you are the executor, then you are the person in charge of managing the estate, including distributing assets. If someone else has been named, contact the person and be sure they are still willing and able to undertake the responsibilities.

Obtain original death certificates. All of the financial, legal and property matters will require an original death certificate, with a raised seal. It’s easier to have more than you need, so order ten to fifteen.

Talk with other professionals. The financial advisor, CP, and insurance broker, in addition to the estate planning attorney, will need to know that your spouse has passed. You will also need to notify the Social Security Administration. If your spouse was receiving benefits, depending upon when in the month they died, you may need to return money.

Avoid any big decisions. This is not the time to sell the house, move to another state or make any other large decisions, unless you must for financial reasons.

Carry out your spouse’s wishes. There is comfort in carrying out your loved one’s wishes. Giving money to a charity as per the will’s direction or handing a prized possession to a family member who will treasure it can be heartwarming, since it reminds you of the values that your spouse held dear.

Take time for yourself and your loved ones. Mourning and healing from loss are not easy times. Take the time to process the loss and grieve with other family members. Find comfort from those you love.

If you would like to learn more about how to handle an estate after a loved one dies, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: U.S. News & World Report (Aug. 28, 2020) “Checklist for Handling the Death of a Spouse”

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