Originally, this series was going to be 4 parts, but I’m adding a bonus post. I wanted to give you a practical list of financial things that should be done early on after losing your spouse. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it should cover the basics.
1. Death Cerificates
Get at least 20 death certificates from your funeral home. You will need these when contacting companies that were in both of your names or just your husband’s name. They are easiest to get immediately, and many companies require an original. I found that some companies did accept a faxed copy, so you may have some left over. That’s OK. Just file them in case you need them in the future.
Get at least 20 death certificates from your funeral home. You will need these when contacting companies that were in both of your names or just your husband’s name. They are easiest to get immediately, and many companies require an original. I found that some companies did accept a faxed copy, so you may have some left over. That’s OK. Just file them in case you need them in the future.
2. Social Security
Contact Social Security to find out if you and your children qualify for Survival Benefits, and get the ball rolling. See this post for more details.
Contact Social Security to find out if you and your children qualify for Survival Benefits, and get the ball rolling. See this post for more details.
3. Life insurance
Contact the company and submit necessary paperwork to receive the benefits. See this post for more details.
4. Bank accounts
4. Bank accounts
Contact the bank and ask how to cancel your late husband's debit card and remove his name from your accounts. Consider having someone trusted added to your accounts, or at the very least make sure you have your bank accounts listed in your will specifying who will these will go to, should you pass away.
I did not cancel my late husband’s PayPal account or his debit card, and ended up with thousands of dollars of fraudulent charges on both after 5:00 pm on a Friday leading up to New Year’s weekend the year he passed. It was a bit of a process to get it all straightened out, as it was a holiday weekend with Monday still being a holiday, so I had to wait until Tuesday to go to the bank. Paypal allowed me to close his account and reversed the charges, and I called VISA to block his card completely, so no more charges could be made over the weekend. On the next business day, I went to the bank to get our joint checking account straightened out. The bank was easy to work with, and I was given back all that was stolen from me, but as a result, I had to close my current account and open a new account. My advice - take care of this right away!
I did not cancel my late husband’s PayPal account or his debit card, and ended up with thousands of dollars of fraudulent charges on both after 5:00 pm on a Friday leading up to New Year’s weekend the year he passed. It was a bit of a process to get it all straightened out, as it was a holiday weekend with Monday still being a holiday, so I had to wait until Tuesday to go to the bank. Paypal allowed me to close his account and reversed the charges, and I called VISA to block his card completely, so no more charges could be made over the weekend. On the next business day, I went to the bank to get our joint checking account straightened out. The bank was easy to work with, and I was given back all that was stolen from me, but as a result, I had to close my current account and open a new account. My advice - take care of this right away!
5. Cars
Contact your town office to change the name on the titles. If you owe on your car, you should also contact the loan company, especially if your income will affect your ability to make the payments.
6. House
Contact the mortgage company to change the name on your mortgage. If you have mortgage insurance (we were not offered this until after Jon had been diagnosed, so we didn’t qualify), contact the company and get the ball rolling on that.
7. Debt:
Medical Debt - contact the hospital billing department to make a payment plan. You may qualify for some of the debt to be forgiven, depending on your income.
Credit cards - contact the company to make a reasonable payment plan. If the credit card was only in your husband’s name, make sure to also cancel the card.
Student loans - contact the loan companies and see what steps need to be taken.
8. Life Insurance for You
Get life insurance or an additional policy, if yours is small. You are now the sole parent, so your policy should reflect that. I had a small policy when Jon passed but got an additional, larger policy to make sure my kids were financially taken care of, if anything happened to me.
Get life insurance or an additional policy, if yours is small. You are now the sole parent, so your policy should reflect that. I had a small policy when Jon passed but got an additional, larger policy to make sure my kids were financially taken care of, if anything happened to me.
9. Make a Will
Make sure you have a will in place with instructions for who will be taking your kids, if you should pass, who gets your possessions and money, and make sure your beneficiaries are up to date on your life insurance policy.
10. Start Budgeting
Make a budget, cut expenses if needed, and meal plan. See this post for more details. There will be future posts related to this as well.
Again, this is not an exhaustive list, but it covers the basics. Also, I am not a financial advisor, an accountant, or lawyer, so please do not take the information I am providing as legal advice. This is my experience with some things I did well and other things you can avoid by learning from my mistakes.
What item on this list surprised you? What would you add to my list?
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