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By Mark McGregor, CRPC®, CFF®

Losing a spouse is one of the most traumatic experiences in a lifetime. Along with processing painful emotions, the survivor must chart a new way forward. That involves financial planning. While dealing with grief is always a survivor’s main priority, navigating finances can help restore hope for the future.

In this guide, we look at steps for financial planning in the wake of your partner’s death, steps to help you emerge from mourning with renewed confidence and direction.

Essential Financial Planning Steps to Take First

While sorting matters out in the immediate aftermath, here are some basic steps to take or delegate to prepare your finances.

Obtain Copies of the Death Certificate

Insurers, financial institutions, pension plan managers, the Social Security Administration, and other agencies usually require original copies (as opposed to photocopies) of the death certificate to close or amend their accounts. Generally, between five to ten copies should suffice, and the funeral home should be able to assist with this step.

Contact Financial Institutions and Service Providers

Notify your late spouse’s bank, credit card companies, and utility services of their passing. This is a key step in freezing, updating, or transferring accounts, ceasing autopayments, and shielding the survivor from errors and even potential fraud.

Update Account Information and Beneficiaries

Amend your spouse’s life insurance policy, IRAs, and 401(k) accounts to clarify how the funds are to be disbursed. Review the complete list of beneficiaries to verify their status. This is a key step when it’s time for estate planning.

Address Short-Term Expenses

Review your current financial situation, weighing immediate expenses against the cash you have on hand. For now, just focus on surviving the present and near future; long-term planning can wait.

Organize Critical Documents

Set up a dedicated space or folder to house important documents, such as:

• The death certificate
• The marriage certificate
• Insurance policies
• Wills and trust documents
• Bank, investment, and retirement account statements
• Property titles and deeds
• Tax returns

If you’re unsure whether you need to retain a certain document, it’s always good to err on the side of caution and keep it.

Handle Insurance Claims and Benefit Transfers

The transfer of your spouse’s insurance claims and benefit distributions requires some attention and paperwork. For life insurance claims, you’ll need to supply the death certificate, policy number, and proof of your identity. Depending on your insurer, the transfer process could take a few weeks or several months to complete.

To activate Social Security benefits, you’ll need your spouse’s SSN, marriage license, and proof of death. You can apply online or at the local Social Security office. Check with your spouse’s old employer to see if there are unused vacation payouts and pension plan documents. They can also confirm whether you’re eligible for continued health insurance under COBRA.

While these benefits are processing, it’s a good time to work on estate planning. This includes updating wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations to reflect your new financial situation.

Again, be gentle on yourself during this phase. Make a checklist and work on one item at a time.

Financial Planning for Your Future As a Single Person

With the loss of your spouse, financial planning takes a whole new turn. You’ll evaluate your expenses against your new or revised income sources (including one-time life insurance payouts) to set yourself up. There’s a good chance your goals in financial planning—retirement, housing, and so forth—must be reassessed and reformed.

This could be a scary step for the newly widowed, especially after a long marriage. You don’t have to face it all by yourself. Talk to a financial advisor for help with this and any other money issues you may have. It’s entirely fair to move through this process slowly, so don’t feel you have to rush it along.

At McGregor Wealth Management, We’re on Your Side

At McGregor Wealth Management, our experienced team offers help in all aspects of financial planning, especially in vulnerable times. You can contact us for compassionate and diligent service to get you through.

If you’d like to get in touch, call 303.681.0113, email mark@mgswealth.com, or schedule a meeting online.

About Mark

You probably have people helping with your investments, legal matters, and taxes…but who makes sure you are getting all the benefits you’re owed? I do. My name is Mark McGregor. I scour federal, state, local, and corporate databases to find benefits you are owed but NOT receiving. That’s what I do. Yes, we do all the other things as well, such as providing investment management, tax planning, long-term care planning and other services. Those are the big things, but I also help to make sure the little unknown things are taken care of for you. It’s also making sure that the little things don’t become big problems for you down the road.

I got into this business to fill a void I noticed after the passing of one of my friends’ parents who was experiencing hardship due to poor planning. I saw the issues they had to deal with firsthand, and this left me feeling that there were lots of financial salespeople, but not many true advisors making sure people were getting all the available benefits they had worked so hard for. I use the skills I gained from my bachelor’s degree from California Polytechnic State University and 24 years of industry experience to get all the benefits my clients are owed. I live in Castle Rock, and we are actively involved in sports and charitable organizations, such as Unbound, which provides personal attention and direct benefits to children, youth, the aging, and their families so they may live with dignity and achieve their desired potential and participate fully in society.

Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Wealth Advisors, LLC (BWA), a registered investment advisor and an affiliate of Brookstone Capital Management, LLC. BWA and McGregor Wealth Management are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BWA but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.

Mark McGregor and/or McGregor Wealth Management are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other government agency.