First 90 Days
Funeral Costs: How to Compare Prices Before You Sign
Use the FTC Funeral Rule to compare itemized funeral prices, separate required charges from optional choices, and check prepaid plans and benefits.
The First 90 Days desk
First 90 Days
The calm order of the first weeks: what must happen now, and what can safely wait.
38 guides · page 2 of 2
First 90 Days
How to Find a Lost Life Insurance Policy
Search for a missing life insurance policy through financial records, former employers, the free NAIC locator, successor insurers, and state unclaimed property.
First 90 Days
How to Start a Life Insurance Claim After a Spouse Dies
A step-by-step first-notification checklist covering policy verification, beneficiary status, claim documents, payout choices, fraud protection, and follow-up.
First 90 Days
Retirement Plans After a Spouse Dies: The First Call
Ask a retirement plan administrator for the beneficiary record, survivor options, deadlines, unpaid RMD, rollover choices, fees, and tax withholding.
First 90 Days
Identity Theft After a Death: A Response Plan
Respond to identity theft after a spouse dies by preserving evidence, verifying the account, reporting through official channels, and separating estate liability.
First 90 Days
Cash Flow After a Spouse Dies: A 90-Day Plan
Build a 90-day cash-flow plan after a spouse dies by separating accessible money, confirmed income, essential bills, and uncertain claims.
First 90 Days
How to Handle Family Requests After a Spouse Dies
A fair, legally cautious process for recording requests for belongings, loans, gifts, money, access, and estate decisions without distributing too early.
First 90 Days
Who Has Authority After a Death? A Role-by-Role Guide
Learn what a surviving spouse, agent, beneficiary, trustee, and court-appointed personal representative can (and cannot)do after a death.
First 90 Days
Digital Accounts After Death: Access, Preserve, Transfer, or Close
A careful guide to inventorying digital assets, preserving records, and using lawful provider processes after a spouse dies.
First 90 Days
How to Access a Safe-Deposit Box After a Spouse Dies
Confirm the lease, state-law procedure, authority, supervised-search limits, inventory, valuation, and insurance before accessing a safe-deposit box after death.
First 90 Days
What to Ask Your Late Spouse's Employer About Benefits
A call checklist covering final pay, group life insurance, retirement plans, health coverage, equity compensation, deadlines, and written follow-up.
First 90 Days
How to Audit Subscriptions and Recurring Payments After a Death
Find, classify, transfer, and cancel recurring payments after a spouse dies without lapsing insurance, utilities, loans, or services the household still needs.
First 90 Days
How to Keep a Decision Log After Your Spouse Dies
Use a decision log to track calls, deadlines, documents, authority, money, and follow-up while settling financial and estate matters after a spouse dies.
First 90 Days
How to Protect a Deceased Person’s Credit File
Learn how to add a deceased indicator, request the credit report, notify creditors, and preserve proof without confusing the process with a credit freeze.
First 90 Days
Joint Bank Accounts After a Death: Access and FDIC Rules
Learn what to verify before using or retitling a joint bank account after death, including ownership, payment access, estate claims, and FDIC coverage.
First 90 Days
How to Protect and Forward Mail After a Death
Secure incoming mail, follow USPS authorization rules, identify accounts and fraud, route estate correspondence, and reduce unwanted advertising safely.
First 90 Days
How to Report a Death to U.S. Government Agencies
Use this federal death-notification plan to stop improper payments, preserve survivor-benefit claims, update records, and document every agency response.
First 90 Days
How Many Certified Death Certificates Should You Order?
A practical method for deciding how many certified death certificates to order, tracking originals, and avoiding unnecessary fees or delays.
First 90 Days
Social Security’s $255 Lump-Sum Death Payment
Understand who may receive Social Security’s $255 lump-sum death payment, its two-year application limit, and why it is separate from survivor benefits.