A Few Hours of Preparation Can Be a Lifesaver in Your Time of Need
Keeping your financial records in order will make things much easier in the event of your spouse’s death.
Whoever is the primary record keeper in your family should make sure that the other person knows where and how to find everything.
The following steps will help you take the appropriate actions.
- 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 at home or in a safety deposit box. Place them in a brokerage account for safekeeping.
- Discuss the investments and obligations you share so your spouse will understand everything you own.
- 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 few months.
- Keep your Estate Plan up to date, including Durable Powers of Attorney, Living Will and Health Care 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 stored safely and that others know where to find it.
- Locate and store birth certificate, marriage certificate, Social Security card, Passport, military discharge papers and other relevant documents where they can easily be found.
- Make sure that you understand the tax ramifications of your home’s title, and registration of your liquid assets and investments, 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. They also provide grief resources which may be helpful to you if you have lost a spouse, or even a pet.
- 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.
- If two incomes are required to support the current lifestyle, how will 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.
- 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 and your significant other in the same tragic event, be sure your personal representative or 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, discuss it and work through it together. If you die tomorrow, your secret will be discovered and you will not be able to explain the circumstances.