Checklist for Surviving Spouses

A Quick Guide to Essential Tasks and Documents

When a loved one dies, you suddenly face a series of actions and decisions to take, both personal and financial. It can seem overwhelming. However, there are many things you can do to help yourself through this transition. Careful estate planning is essential. Having a checklist for survivors on hand can also help you stay focused on what you must do and retain a sense of control. Particularly for surviving spouses, a checklist of actions and documents can help you negotiate an extremely painful time in your life.

1) First of all, take your time. Don't feel that you need to rush into any immediate financial decisions. You may want to consult a financial advisor, but make sure this is a professional and screen any potential advisors carefully. You may even want to make this important decision before your spouse's death, if your spouse is in poor health.

2) Gather all important documents. These include:

• will,
• trusts,
• death certificate (10-25 copies),
• marriage license,
• birth certificates for your children,
• Social Security numbers,
• insurance policies, including life insurance, home insurance, auto or other property insurance,
• financial account statements and documents, including checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage accounts, credit card accounts, pensions, retirement programs such as IRAs and other company-sponsored retirement programs,
• your spouse's company benefits booklet,
• military discharge papers if your spouse ever served in the military.

3) Contact your spouse's life insurance company and collect the insurance. You can do this right away, but you don't have to invest the money immediately. If you can't find the life insurance policy, contact the American Council of Life Insurers (www.acli.com) for help in tracing the policy.

4) Contact your spouse's employer. You may be entitled to unpaid compensation due to your spouse in the form of salary, vacation pay, or sick pay.

Find out about any retirement plans in which your spouse was participating, including profit sharing, pension, 401(k), 403(b), stock options, etc. Your spouse could have been covered by group life, accidental death or travel insurance. If your spouse died on the job, you may be entitled to worker's compensation benefits.

As a surviving spouse, you can roll over money from your spouse's retirement plan into your own IRA without penalty. However, if you are younger than retirement age, it may make more sense for you to keep the assets in your spouse's retirement plan. This could let you access those assets at an earlier age without penalties. If you are in a position where this option might make sense, consult an estate attorney before reaching this decision.

There may be a company policy on medical insurance for spouse survivors. At the very least, you're probably eligible for COBRA, a federal law that allows employees and their dependents to continue to receive medical benefits previously provided by the employer at the same premium rate. COBRA mandates coverage (with premiums paid in part or wholly by the beneficiary) for 18 months-3 years, depending on the circumstances.

5) Make sure you have enough cash on hand. You should try to have at least six months of expenses in a very liquid account, such as a money market account. You may want to consider keeping part of the life insurance or other death benefit as cash in such an account.

6) Contact the executor of the estate. The executor will be indicated in the will and/or trust. This person can go through your spouse's safe-deposit box with you if your spouse had one, choose an estate attorney with you, and help you with all the document-gathering and documentation which you need to complete, as well as legal filings including the estate tax return and your spouse's final income tax return.

7) Apply for government death benefits. Surviving spouses may be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 60. Surviving families with children younger than age 18 may be eligible for Social Security benefits.

If your spouse was a military veteran, he or she can be buried for free in one of the national cemeteries. The Veterans Administration will provide a flag for the memorial service, a headstone for the grave, and financial assistance for the burial. Find out about veteran's spouse survivor benefits available to you.

If you're 65 or older, you may be entitled to certain Medicare benefits.

8) Re-title your spouse's sole or joint property in your own name, as provided in the will. These include your house, car, safe-deposit box, brokerage accounts, credit cards, bank accounts, and other assets. Different financial institutions will have different procedures for these circumstances, but they're likely to include a written request from you and a copy of the death certificate.

You will want to identify all your spouse's assets and liabilities. These include real property assets and liabilities such as mortgages and car payments, and assets and liabilities in financial accounts. Also included may be divorce settlements if your spouse was previously married, and child support orders if your spouse had children by a different spouse.

If you have children in college, contact the school's financial-aid department. You may be eligible for different financial assistance terms due to your change in circumstances.

With planning and organization, the financial arrangements as a surviving spouse can be made without becoming overwhelming. Take care of yourself first of all, and stay close to your other loved ones in this difficult period.

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A portion of this article is based in part on the Morningstar Personal Finance "Checklist for Surviving Spouses" by Sue Stevens

 For more information, please contact Jonathan E. Brochstein at Weston Wealth Strategies—(203) 319-9876 or contact Jonathan via email.

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