Financial planning after losing a spouse
No rush. No pressure.
Just a plan, when you’re ready.
For widows and widowers, and the families helping them, we help with the few things that can’t wait and take the rest at your pace.
After losing a spouse, most financial decisions can wait. A financial advisor for widows helps with the few that can’t, confirming near-term income, insurance and Social Security survivor claims, then rebuilds the longer-term plan at your pace, with your attorney and CPA.
First steps
What needs attention first, and what can wait.
Most financial decisions after a loss can wait. A few cannot. Separating the two is the most useful thing we do in the first weeks.
The first weeks
The early priorities are simple: make sure income keeps arriving, file life insurance claims, notify Social Security and confirm that bills and the mortgage are covered. That is usually enough. Everything else can take its time.
Income. Confirm what continues and what stops.
Insurance. File claims when you are ready, with help if you want it.
Social Security. Report the death and ask about survivor benefits.
What can wait
Investment changes, selling the house, large gifts to family and major purchases can almost always wait. Many families find that waiting several months leads to better decisions. If you need a few months first, that’s okay too.
Take the time you need. We’ll be here when you’re ready.
Accounts and benefits
Accounts, benefits and retitling.
Over the following months, accounts need to be retitled and benefits claimed. None of it needs to happen in a single week. We help you work through it in order.
Your spouse’s retirement accounts
A surviving spouse usually has more than one option for inheriting an IRA or 401(k), including rolling it into their own account or keeping it as an inherited account. Each affects taxes and access differently. These are things to know to ask about before choosing.
Step-up in basis
When a spouse dies, some investments may receive a new cost basis, which can affect the taxes owed when they are eventually sold. It is a quiet detail with lasting effects. We confirm the records with your CPA before anything is sold.
Social Security survivor benefits
Survivor benefits depend on your age, your spouse’s record and your own benefits. The timing of your claim can matter. We look at the options with you and make sure the choice fits your longer plan.
Taxes
Taxes in the year of loss and after.
Taxes change after a loss, usually in stages. Your filing status in the year of death is often different from the years that follow, and the change can affect your brackets.
We work with your CPA to plan for the year of loss and the transition to filing as a single taxpayer, so there are fewer surprises. If you would like a CPA involved from the start, our CPA advisors work inside the same plan.
Working with your CPA
Whether you keep your own accountant or work with ours, we share the plan and coordinate the timing of withdrawals, sales and claims with the tax return in view.
Rebuilding
Rebuilding the plan around one income.
When you are ready, the plan gets rebuilt around the life you have now. There is no deadline for this part.
A new income plan
We look at what income continues, what has changed and what you need, then build a plan that supports your life on one income. It is steady, clear and revisited as often as you like.
Your own beneficiaries and estate documents
Your will, powers of attorney and beneficiary designations likely still name your spouse. Updating them with your estate attorney protects the people you love next.
When you’re ready to decide about the house
What happens to the house after a spouse dies depends on how it was owned and what the mortgage requires. The bigger question is whether you want to stay. We help you look at the options when you are ready, not before.
How Tilson helps
A steady hand, at your pace.
When you call Tilson, a person answers. Not a phone tree. Not a chatbot. A real human who knows your name and your story.
Tilson Financial Group is a family-led, independent, fee-only SEC Registered Investment Adviser, founded in 1991 in New Providence. Our team includes CFP® professionals, CPAs and a CFA® charterholder, and we work alongside your estate attorney and CPA. If you are navigating a loss, you don’t have to figure this out alone.
When you call, a human answers.
Your advisory team knows your story.
Our back office knows your name.
Comprehensive financial planning
Retirement planning
Tax planning
Estate planning coordination
Investment management
Multigenerational planning
Our quiet guide to the first ninety days is there whenever you want it. We work with families across New Jersey and across the country.
Who this is for.
You have recently lost a spouse and are not sure where to start. You are an adult child helping a parent through the paperwork and the decisions. You are not ready to make big choices yet, and want someone steady nearby when you are.
Take the time you need. We’ll be here when you’re ready.
“Our advisor showed a real empathy for my spouse as she has been dealing with her husband’s Alzheimer’s and then his death last December.”
TFG Current Client
Clients were not compensated for testimonials.
Questions we’re asked after a loss.
Do I need to make financial decisions right away?
Very few. Keep income arriving, file insurance claims and notify Social Security. Nearly everything else, including investment changes and decisions about the house, can wait until you are ready. Waiting is often the wiser choice.
What should I do with my spouse’s retirement accounts?
Nothing, at first. A surviving spouse usually has several options, such as rolling accounts into their own IRA or keeping them as inherited accounts. Each affects taxes and access differently, so it is worth reviewing with your advisor and CPA before choosing.
What happens to the mortgage?
The mortgage does not go away, and in many cases a surviving spouse can keep the existing loan. Keep making payments, contact the lender when you are ready and review the details with your estate attorney. We can help fit the payment into your new income plan.
How does Tilson work with our estate attorney and CPA?
We share the financial plan with them, coordinate timing on accounts, claims and taxes, and make sure everyone is working from the same picture. You do not have to be the messenger between professionals.
Is there a checklist we can follow?
Yes. Our quiet guide to the first ninety days walks through what needs attention and what can wait. Use it at your own pace, and call us whenever you would like help.
This is general information, not personalized advice.
Ready to talk?
When you’re ready, we’ll be here.
Take the time you need. When you want to talk, we’ll listen, answer your questions and you can decide from there. If you need a few months first, that’s okay too.
Or call (908) 561-6203
Tilson Financial Group brings clarity, confidence, and presence when it counts.
The Tilson Financial Group, Inc. is a Registered Investment Adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The material provided is for educational purposes.
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