First 90 Days
Family Requests: Acknowledging Without Deciding
Requests for possessions, money, and decisions arrive early and often. A single holding sentence protects both the estate and the relationships.
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First 90 Days
Authority: The Question That Comes Before Every Other Question
Surviving spouse, beneficiary, executor, and trustee are four different capacities with four different powers, and they are not interchangeable.
First 90 Days
Funeral Costs: Buying Under Time Pressure You Did Not Choose
Funeral arrangements are among the few major purchases made within days, while grieving, and often without a written price list in hand.
First 90 Days
Digital Accounts: Why the Password Is Not the Permission
Knowing the login to an account belonging to someone who has died does not make using it lawful, and the shortcut can create genuine problems.
First 90 Days
The Safe Deposit Box: Authority Comes Before Access
A safe deposit box often holds the will, deeds, and policies you need, and access frequently requires the very authority those documents establish.
First 90 Days
The Call to an Employer Is a Benefits Enquiry, Not a Courtesy
A late spouse’s employer may hold life cover, unpaid compensation, retirement plan elections, and health coverage decisions with real deadlines attached.
First 90 Days
Recurring Payments: What to Stop, What to Keep, and What to Verify
Cancelling everything after a death is as risky as cancelling nothing. Insurance, utilities, and services need sorting by consequence rather than by convenience.
First 90 Days
The Decision Log: The Single Most Useful Habit of the First Year
Almost every avoidable problem after a death traces back to an undocumented conversation. A simple log converts memory into evidence.
First 90 Days
Closing the Credit File of Someone Who Has Died
A dormant credit file is a standing invitation. Notifying the credit bureaus early is one of the few purely protective steps available in the first weeks.
First 90 Days
Joint Accounts: What Survives, What Freezes, and What to Ask
A joint bank account is not one arrangement but several, and which one you hold decides whether money stays available or becomes part of the estate.
First 90 Days
The Mail Is a Security Problem Before It Is an Administrative One
Post arriving at the home of someone who has died is both the best map of their financial life and an open invitation to identity theft.
First 90 Days
Which Agencies Need to Be Told, and Which Will Find Out Anyway
Notification after a death is not one task but many, with different agencies, different proofs, and very different consequences for getting the order wrong.
First 90 Days
Certified Death Certificates: How Many, and Who Actually Needs One
Ordering certified copies is one of the first errands after a death. Ordering the wrong number, or sending originals away, creates weeks of avoidable delay.
First 90 Days
The Lump-Sum Death Payment: A Small Sum With a Short Window
Social Security pays a one-time death payment to certain survivors, and it is entirely separate from the monthly survivor benefit that matters far more.