Prevent Yourself from Becoming a Weeping Widow (or Widower) by Being Prepared!

• Keep contact names and phone numbers accessible, and up to date.
• Maintain full records, including contact phone numbers, of all credit card, loan and investment accounts. Do not keep stock or bond certificates yourself or in a safety deposit box. Deposit them for safekeeping in a brokerage account.
• Understand and discuss the investments and obligations you share so your spouse will not be left in the dark!
• Keep photocopies, front and back, of your credit cards.
• Keep enough cash or liquid investments to prevent financial disruption of your lifestyle for at least a couple of months.
• Keep your Estate Plan up to date, including Durable Powers of Attorney and Power of Attorney. Websites provided by the American Bar Association, as well as the AARP, can provide preliminary assistance in finding an attorney.
• Make sure a current copy of your Will or Estate Plan is in safekeeping and that others know where to find it.
• Understand titling or registration of your home and liquid assets as well as the laws applicable to tax treatment of these assets upon the death of the owner or owners.
• Periodically review your beneficiary designations on accounts, insurance policies and retirement plans.
• If your bank or investment accounts are not held jointly (that’s okay!) consider a POD (Payable on Death) or Designated Beneficiary Plan to take care of distribution to the survivor(s).
• If you have children (or pets), make sure they have a home, caregivers and financial support defined in your legal will documentation, should something happen to you and your spouse.
• Make sure you understand your loved one’s intentions with regard to final arrangements (burial vs. cremation for example), including ceremony (location, music, theme) and how friends can make a final tribute (flowers, charitable donations). The National Funeral Directors Association provides a searchable directory by city and state, of member funeral homes.
• Be aware of alternatives for providing your loved one with comfort and dignity as they near the end of a terminal illness. Hospice care can be provided in the home or in a facility. For an informative resource on hospice, palliative care, and Advance Directives visit the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s website.
• Insurance may not be for everyone, but if both incomes are required to support the current lifestyle, how would the loss of one or both incomes impact your surviving family? Helpful information on life, disability, long term care, auto and home insurance coverage is located on the Insurance Information Institute website.
• Unfortunately, death is sometimes preceded by the need for long term care.  If you are looking for assistance from Medicaid (whether or not you have or had Long Term Care insurance), consider consulting an attorney.  Rules for Medicaid qualification are complex.  The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys has an informative website.
• If you have a repository for pin numbers or passwords, make sure you and your spouse both know how to access it. If something happened to you both, be sure your personal representative/successor trustee could gain access to this repository.
• Don’t keep secrets from each other. If you have a side your spouse does not know about, or a problem you’re trying to deal with alone, instead face it and work through it together. If you die tomorrow, they will absolutely find out your secret, and you won’t be there to explain.

Weeping Widows Home      Widows Web Links