The Financial Responsibilities Involved When A Loved One Dies

You lose a loved one and are dealing with your grief. You are not likely thinking about anything other than how much you miss the individual. It is not likely that you are thinking about things such as what new responsibilities you may be facing as a result of your loss or what financial decisions lay ahead in the weeks or months to come. You may have already had or at least planned the funeral or perhaps the individual pre-planned their funeral in which case they spared you that anquish. The funeral and settling the estate of the recently deceased individual are two matters that will not be able to be put off. Other financial matters such as insurance coverage, IRAs, assets and liabilities etc., can probably wait until you are thinking without so much emotion.

There are many life's events in which preparing ahead of time eases our financial burden at a time when we are emotionally spent. Life's events such as getting married, having a baby, starting a business, buying a home, can have some stress but also some joy. Losing a job, getting divorced, suffering a major accident or illness and also losing a loved one are all life events that are major and involve some degree of sadness and grief. Although all of these events are certainly life changing losing someone you love to death has the biggest impact on your life, especially if that person was your spouse, parent or child.

Getting through these events can be made easier if some or all of the planning has been done in advance of the event. Getting help with pre-planning for these events is what insurance companies and financial companies offer their customers. Some of the solutions these companies can offer are life insurance policies, disability income insurance, long-term care insurance and mutual funds.

Learning how to prepare financially for what life has to offer us (the good and the bad) can be done by reading publications that deal with investing wisely, or surviving the loss of a spouse and also how to conduct an inventory of your assets and liabilities.

In the first few months after a spouse or loved one (adult) has died, there are financial affairs that must be dealt with including survivor benefits, Veterans' benefits, employee benefits, a will if there was one, probate if there was no will or if a will is contested, taxes, and possibly changing ownership or title to real property.

The first step in making any financial decisions following the death of a loved one is to gather any important financial documents including the death certificate (you will need at least 10 certified copies), insurance policies, social security number of the spouse and any dependent children. If you do not have the deceased spouse's social security number you can find it on the death certificate. You will need the military discharge papers if the deceased was a veteran, a marriage certificate if he/she was married, copies of the birth certificates of any dependent children, the will if any, a listing of any assets, and a listing of any debts.

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