Tag Archives: funeral expert

Navigating Financial Changes After the Death of a Spouse

The following is a post from guest writer, Sara Bailey.  You can find more information from her at www.The Widow.net.

Navigating Financial Changes After the Death of a Spouse

In an ideal world, family could take ample time to grieve after the death of a loved one. Unfortunately, surviving spouses must handle a variety of important financial matters in the weeks following a husband or wife’s passing. From keeping the lights on to saying goodbye to a home, here are some of the most important matters surviving spouses must contend with after their partner’s passing.

Organizing the Bills

If your spouse handled the finances or financial duties were shared, collecting information on all household and personal bills should be an early step after your spouse’s passing. Find out which bills are on automatic payment and which you must pay manually. In addition to paying all bills that are due, you’ll need to switch accounts in your spouse’s name to your own.

If you discover your bills are more than you can manage in your spouse’s absence, consider how you can adjust your budget. Reducing household expenses can cover small shortfalls, but if the gap is large, you may need to take a larger step like selling your home. During this time, it might help to hire a financial planner to ensure you’re making the right choices and taking the proper steps. However, it’s important to find someone you can trust with your finances.

Updating Estate Plans

If your spouse features in your estate plan as a power of attorney, health care proxy, guardian, or beneficiary, update these appointments promptly. You may feel unsure of who to name as a health care proxy or power of attorney now that your spouse is gone. Rather than choose the person closest to you, ask someone you trust to honor your wishes. Forbes offers additional advice for choosing a person to serve in these important roles.

In addition to naming a proxy and POA, surviving spouses must update beneficiary designations or risk a costly mistake. Beneficiary designations override wills in court, so if you update your will but not beneficiary forms, your assets will likely have to go through probate. CNBC advises surviving spouses to update beneficiary designations with IRA, 401(k), and 403(b) plans, life insurance policies, 529 accounts and any other account that transfers on death.

Reviewing Insurance Policies

Find paperwork for life, health and other insurance policies and notify companies of your spouse’s passing, filing claims as needed. You’ll need to provide copies of the death certificate. If you had health coverage under your spouse’s policy, you may be able to continue coverage under COBRA. However, you’ll be responsible for the whole premium without the employer cost share. If that’s not available or cost-effective, shop for insurance on your state’s marketplace. In addition to health insurance changes, your life insurance may no longer be needed without a living spouse or dependent children. Weigh whether your policy is worth keeping or if you should sell it to help with living expenses, including medical care you may need later in life. If you decide to keep your life insurance policy, update the beneficiaries to reflect your spouse’s passing.

Downsizing

Living alone comes with risks. A senior living alone is responsible for maintaining and financing an entire property, and the extra labor increases the risk of falling while home alone. Social isolation in itself is a health risk, with effects like increased risk of depression, stroke and cognitive decline. Many seniors benefit from moving to a lower-maintenance home near friends and family after a spouse’s death. While it’s difficult to leave a longtime home, maintaining safety and social connectedness is paramount. If moving isn’t an option, hired help such as house cleaners and personal care attendants can ease the burden of living alone.

When you’ve shared a life for years, it’s difficult to adjust to living and managing finances alone. It’s common for spouses to divide areas of expertise, but when one spouse passes, the surviving partner is left to fill in the gaps. If you’re struggling to answer these big questions alone, know that professional guidance is available.

Image via Unsplash

It’s Not Our Loved One in the Casket!

A family went to a Florida funeral home only to find the person in the casket was not their loved one.  To make matters worse, the funeral home staff had dressed the stranger in the clothes the family had selected for their relative.  OOPS!   Within a short period of time the situation was corrected by the funeral home staff. Hopefully, the funeral home provided new clothing including undergarments at no charge to replace the clothing the family had provided.  A lawsuit in the works?

Have questions about funerals or funeral planning? Email Mike at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.

Court Rules Remains Can’t Be Divided

A recent Fourth District Court of Appeals ruling in Florida said that a deceased’s ashes are not “property” and cannot be divided between his feuding parents.

The young man was tragically killed in an automobile accident, and his parents, who are divorced, have been fighting over his ashes, disagreeing on where they should be buried.  Fortunately the court recognized that these are, in fact, the remains of a human being, not the family silverware.

The three-judge panel then issued an ultimatum: find a way to dispose of the remains in 30 days or the court would appoint somebody to do it instead. The case will now likely go back to the lower trial court.

Have questions about funeral planning for either humans or pets?  Email Mike at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.

 

 

 

Alert to Military Veterans!

I recently saw a newspaper ad directed to Military Veterans about burial in National Cemeteries. What concerned me was that there was a mail-in coupon to a P.O. box without a telephone number for the business. The ad wanted the name, age, spouse’s age, address, city, state, zip and contact telephone number of the person requesting burial or cremation options. In other words, the ad requested a lot of personal information without providing the consumer any information about the company requesting it, not even a telephone number. Be very careful and do not respond to these type ads. Funeral and Cemetery scams are one of the 10 top scams targeting seniors.

FYI: If you have questions about burial in National Cemeteries contact the Veterans’ Administration, a local funeral home, or a National Cemetery if you have one in your area.

Have questions? Email me at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.

Mike

Dead People Can’t Pay!

I recently read an article about dead drivers being forgiven for traffic infractions including tickets, fines, and fees. The move is an effort to dispose of these type of traffic cases and give the courts more time to deal with living issues. Great idea!

I wonder, how many deceased drivers’ records are still considered active cases by the courts throughout the United States? Have a problem like this one? Try taking a copy of the death certificate for the deceased to the agency sending the bill to the deceased and see what can be done to resolve the issue. If the agency will not eliminate the case then suggest you give the agency the new address of the deceased (for example, the cemetery, mausoleum or cremation niche address) so that bills can be sent there to the attention of the deceased and see what happens.

Have questions?  Email me at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.

Mike

Scam Alert!

I recently read an article about the top 10 scams targeting seniors, and funeral planning was one of the ten.

Be aware there are different approaches, including predators reading death notices and then trying to extort money from the family claiming the deceased owed them money. Be careful!  If this ever happens to you get complete contact information from the caller or visitor and notify the police department. And as mentioned in my book, never put the address of the deceased in the death notice.

 Also, unscrupulous funeral homes will try to add unnecessary charges to the funeral bill by taking advantage of the consumer who is not familiar with funeral policy and pricing. Always shop several funeral homes and final disposition places (cemeteries and mausoleum facilities) for pricing information, and acquire price lists where possible. For example, you may be told a casket is required for direct cremation. Generally a less expensive cardboard cremation box is OK for use.

My advice is shop till you drop and become an educated consumer about the subject before a death occurs, commonly called pre-planning of a funeral. If a consumer waits until a death occurs, and sometimes this cannot be avoided, they are at a disadvantage when making funeral and final disposition arrangements. Again, become an educated consumer about the subject before the need arises!

Suggestion: ask questions prior to a death, look at a website where you can acquire information, ask questions and even purchase a book to help you through the funeral arrangement process. If you read my book and have a question not covered in it, simply e-mail me your question and I will answer it at no charge.

Scams are everywhere, don’t get caught in this one!

Have questions?  Email me at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.

Mike

A Party at the Cemetery???

I recently read an article about cemeteries hosting parties to attract future customers. These parties take place on the property and include entertainment, drinks and more. The purpose of these events is to make the locals more aware of what the cemetery offers in an “other than death” experience.  The cemeteries hope to make the public more aware of their offerings and make consumers feel more comfortable about purchasing their goods and services either at-need or pre-need .

The issue here is that to attend these events, consumers must walk over and stand on what has been considered sacred property. The deceased have a right to rest in peace without their resting place being walked over by event participants. 

Have questions or comments?  Email me at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.

Mike