This material is for information purposes only. The writer and publisher assume no legal responsibility for any use or misuse of the information.
Many people consider the death of a loved one to be the worst experience they have to face in life. Whether the death is of a husband, wife, parent, brother, sister, other family member, or close friend, it is almost always a heartbreaking experience. For most of us, such times are an emotional mixture of shock and pain and uncertainty about what life will be like without that person. We are not generally at our best during such times, nor are we in an ideal state to make lots of immediate decisions related to death and funeral arrangements, or more long term financial and legal decisions, some of which may be critical. Yet these are the things which we are faced with when someone dies. Sometimes we face these decisions alone, and sometimes we face them with other family members. This can bring its own set of complications. It's a painful reality that families don't always agree on important issues. Yet, particularly in the death of a parent, family members often have to make many of these important decisions together.
This book is a guidebook to lead you through some of the decisions and considerations that you are likely to face when someone dies. These can be broken down into the following four broad categories.
There are immediate practical concerns related to the death itself, burial or cremation of the body, and finding the original copy of the will (if there is a will). All of these need to dealt with within a few days of the death. While often the most emotionally overwhelming of the concerns dealt with in this book, these are usually relatively easy to deal with. However disagreements can arise when it is unclear what the decedent wanted or if friends and relatives have strong opposing opinions.
Then there are the legal concerns. The level of complexity involved here depends on how well the decedent planned his or her estate and on the size of the estate. Many times the survivors are fearful of legal complications, and it turns out that the decedent's affairs have been well planned, and only a few forms and signatures are necessary to transfer assets out of the decedent's name. Then there is the other extreme, where no planning at all has been done, and it might take the lawyers and accountants years to sort things out.
There are financial concerns related to the person's salary, credit cards, social security, insurance, pension or benefits. While these often merge into the legal concerns covered in the previous section, they are generally distinct enough to merit their own discussion.
Finally, there are tax concerns. While they are discussed last in this book, these are the issues that might cost the survivors the most money. Even if the decedent has planned ahead, there will probably be returns to be filed and at least some tax due. If the decedent hasn't planned carefully, (or even in some cases when he or she has), there might be substantial taxes due.
While real life is never as neat as the divisions in a book, you should anticipate having to face the immediate practical concerns in the days immediately following someone's death, the legal and financial concerns from about a week to several months after someone's death (and sometimes longer), and the tax concerns for a year or two after someone's death. Of course this schedule is a generalization, but it is a perhaps useful rough guide.
While this book is a guidebook, it is not a do-it-yourself guidebook. There are legal self-help books that will show you how to do everything from writing your own will to filing a lawsuit. The book you are holding in your hands merely tells you what needs to be done when someone dies. It does not tell you to do it by yourself. Unless the decedent (the person who died) was very poor, you are probably going to need some professional help with the legal, financial, and tax concerns.
Why (you might ask) do I need this book if I'm going to have my attorney, accountant, financial planner, or other professional help me with many of these concerns? If you have an attorney, accountant, or other planner whom you trust completely and whom you can count on to be readily available to help you with all of these concerns when someone dies, then perhaps you don't need this book. More likely though, you have an attorney who will help you with some of these concerns, an accountant who will help you with others, and perhaps some sort of financial planner who will help you with still others. This book can give you the larger picture about all of these concerns. It can also help prepare you so that you know what information to have ready for the attorney, accountant, or planner. If they are billing you at an hourly rate, this can save you money.
Many people have strong feelings regarding having to pay fees to an attorney, accountant, or other professional after someone's death. Sometimes such concerns are justified. There are dishonest and unethical attorneys, financial planners and others. However, when you are dealing with legal, financial, and tax concerns, it is important to get sound, competent advice. While it is possible to deal with many of these concerns yourself, most people do not have the time, knowledge, or inclination to deal with all of these concerns on their own. In most situations, you will save money in the long run by getting good professional advice now.
It's easy to second-guess decisions that you or someone else have already made. Planning ahead is always a bit trickier. When using this book, you might find yourself wishing that the decedent had planned ahead a bit more carefully. While you can't change the decisions that someone else has made, you can plan ahead for your own death and make things easier for your loved ones. The relevant sections in this book contain a Plan Ahead section which outlines what you can do now to make life easier for your loved ones when you die. A little bit of work on your part now can save someone else a whole lot of work and stress when you die.
Planning ahead is extremely important. However this book has been written to cover the average scenario: the decedent has done little or no planning, and it is up to you, the nearest relatives or friends, to work through the myriad of immediate and practical decisions which must be made within a few hours, or at most, a few days of death. This book is a guide to the general considerations that you are likely to face, not a comprehensive encyclopedia with specific instructions to cover every conceivable situation. Furthermore, since laws and legal terms vary from state to state, it is not possible to go into a great amount of specific detail on all issues. As the plan-ahead paragraphs indicate, planning ahead is not entirely a do-it-yourself project. While many people would be happiest doing everything entirely by themselves, planning ahead means discussing some issues with loved ones and others with professionals. The situations where everyone agrees on what needs to be done are always the easiest for the survivors.
Please click here to return to beginning.These excerpts from What to Do When Someone Dies © 2004 by Milton Berry Scott