Life After Death

My husband died a little over two months ago.  He was retired from the business world but had his own small company working from home.  He was diagnosed last August with Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer so we knew it was just a matter of time -- hoping for as long as possible.  He was not eligible for anything except palliative care so he continued to work from home but began limiting his work assignments.

In the meantime, we were able to have a lot of quality time with our children and grandchildren, close friends, and each other trying to live each day as it came.  He was fortunate that he never experienced any pain -- just discomfort.

He tried to prepare me for his death and I kept putting off learning what I needed to know about the business side of his business.  He told me all I needed to do was close his business account and that would shut down all automatic debits.  However, it wasn't as easy as that because our internet, phones, and some other basic services were tied to his business account so I had to change information from the company name to my name and move debits to a personal account.  In some cases that has reduced the expense.

The state also sent me paperwork that I had no clue how to fill out when I informed them that I was closing down the business due to his death (after receiving a notice that a company report needed to be filed with the state in June).  I have procrastinated taking care of that because our children who live out of the area did not arrive until June then we had his Celebration of Life and scattered his ashes and spent family time together for three weeks.

I decided this was the week I needed to do something so I called the Secretary of State office for advice today and the young woman I spoke to suggested I obtain legal help in shutting down the company.  That's when I had the bright idea that perhaps our accountant could help me since part of what the state needs is financial information.  I called that office today and was told it was very likely they could help so I'm sending them copies of all the paperwork I've received from the state so far and they will then let me know if they can help.

I've closed a brokerage account and a checking account attached to it and moved it to a financial institution where I had already had my husband's name removed from the account.  He was a former banker so I was surprised that the money he had there was not earning very much interest so I made some changes to that account.

This week I took his name off another account.  I'd already moved a large amount out of that account to another financial institution but decided to keep it open.  What I learned at these two financial institutions was that I could name a "designated survivor" and unless I told them they wouldn't know that they were.  What it does is allow them to take my death certificate in when I die and the legal departments will review the death certificate and possibly my will and, if everything is in order, they will send that designated survivor a check.  I only have one of my children who lives near me and the others live out of country or out of state so she has been designated executor of my account.  I have informed her she is my designated survivor and this will allow her to empty my financial institution accounts and set up a trust account to pay off my bills and then distribute the remaining funds (if there are any!) to herself and her two siblings.

I was sharing this with a friend last night and she suggested I actually put this daughter as a signer on one of my accounts so, if I have a stroke or am incapacitated in any way, my daughter can pay my bills for me.  This is so much good information that I wish more people knew about.  I'm hoping I can make it easier for my daughter to settle my estate than it has been for me to settle my husband's.

When I changed the title on our home and our two cars, I learned that there was a way the title could have been set up when we purchased them that would have allowed me to just have my husband's name removed and I wouldn't have had to pay all the transfer fees I did.

So....anyone else out there have some ideas they would like to share about how to handle "Life after death.".......pazt