We tend to shove unpleasant possibilities into the back of our minds. But the truth is, you can’t afford to assume you’ll never have to deal with a true worst-case scenario.
So today I’m asking you to ask yourself the toughest question of all: “What if my spouse dies unexpectedly?”
Some of the first questions to ask yourself are logistical. In a crisis, you don’t want to find yourself scrambling from the start. Your kids and your family depend on you. To help you prepare, get the answers to these important questions today.
For starters, could you find all of the crucial documents vital to your family’s financial future and security? Do you know where they are? Do you even know what they are?
Perhaps your family’s financial papers are littered about the house in various locations, or in someone else’s house or office. Are they in a file cabinet, in a box in the attic, in a safe deposit box at the bank? Find them and put them in a central location that you, your spouse and your adult children can easily access.
How difficult would it be for you to create an inventory of your assets? Track down the deeds and titles to automobiles and real estate as well as personal income tax returns and life insurance contracts — the whole gamut.
Do you have a will? Is it updated? Having a will and knowing where it is can save you a lot of the needless hassle of going through probate.
If your spouse leaves no will or you simply can’t find one, your spouse would have died “intestate,” which means that all assets not jointly owned will be probated. Probate is the legal process of transferring assets in an estate. The process includes paying final funeral expenses, estate debts and taxes, creating an inventory of assets owned at death, and finally, disbursing remaining assets to heirs as specified by state law.
Closely examine beneficiary designations on your family’s assets. This is an often-overlooked step.
Many survivors are shocked to discover that beneficiary designations on financial assets — checking, savings, retirement funds, etc. — trump any will.
