What do you do after a loved one has died? As an heir, there are some steps to take in the days, weeks and months after the funeral.
The Home
Did your family member live alone? If so, you'll want to take steps to protect the home. If there are lots of keys in circulation, you may want to change all the locks on the house. If there is no burglar alarm installed at the house, this may be the time to get that accomplished too. The key is to make sure no one is getting in and that nothing is leaving the property.
Is there jewelry or other valuable items? Are you part of the immediate family? You may want to move valuable personal property and jewelry to a secure location like a safe-deposit box or other secure place.
As a general guideline, you should keep the household contents intact. There are grief guidelines for how long to wait before dismantling the property in a loved one's home. If you are like most people, you'll feel an additional wave of sadness and loss when this next step is performed.
Remember to refer to the will before dispensing items to people. There may be provisions in there that direct specific items to specific people.
Paper Trail
Next thing you should do after the funeral arrangements and securing the house is to locate the important papers. As a general rule, those include a will, stock certificates, investment account information and insurance policies. Ideally there is some plan in place for these items and you know where to find them. If you don't know where these items are, you may be able to locate information on some assets and investments from a recent tax return.
Was your family member still working? There may be work-related benefits too like life-insurance, 401(k) plans and sometimes retirement funds.
Ask your funeral director for certified death certificates. I found with my parents that 10 death certificates covered everything we needed. You should have at least 6 certified copies available to transfer assets and filing life insurance claims.
Take Your Time
After the death of a family member, realize that stress is a normal feeling. It is usually best to avoid making any important decisions about moving or selling a home or business. The recommended guideline is at least one-year. The reason for the waiting period is to acclimate to the emotional impact of the death.
Help Your Heirs Out
While going through this process, it dawned on me that having everything in some semblance of order would help someone else down the line. The KISS principle -- Keep it simple stupid -- certainly applies to this part of your life.
If you have tried to piece things together for someone and plan a funeral, you will certainly see the benefit of planning ahead. Communicate with your family and let them know your wishes. Believe me, more detail is better, and your family will appreciate your efforts. Some things can even be arranged in advance to simplify the process.
Know what you want -- or more importantly, don't want -- for your funeral? Take care of that documentation now! Don't leave it until the will is read because that will likely be too late. Let your spouse, adult children, and any friends that may be helping you know, preferably in writing, what your specific requests are.
Also let your spouse and an adult child know where your will is located, information about insurance and investments. Also keep an updated list of telephone numbers for your attorney, accountant and executor if there is no family member to handle that duty.
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