Understanding the Impact of Death on Family Finance

I’m going to kick off this article with a fun little exercise: spend a little time thinking about your death.

See? I told you that was fun. So what did you think about? Did you give any thought at all to the financial ramifications of your death? Of course, they’re not going to be consequences that you suffer. But the people you love may be affected by this more than you think. You may think that it’s not something you should worry about too much. But this is a mistake.

Late last year, I had to deal with the passing of a loved one who had no preparation in this area whatsoever. Even without loads of assets, the financial consequences were complex, tiring, and long. They’ve been ongoing for nearly a year, in fact. Is that really what people need to be dealing with after your death? You may think that they’re capable of dealing with financial complexity. But I think it’s fair to say that they’re going to be at least a little distracted at the time they have to deal with all of this.

So, in case you hadn’t guessed yet, I was joking about the whole “fun” thing earlier. But that doesn’t mean you should avoid giving this whole thing some serious and prolonged thought.

The importance of life insurance

The way some people try to sell life insurance sometimes makes it sound like something you don’t need that much. Some will try to convince you to buy it by using scare tactics. What if you fall off a ladder and break your neck? What if your office sets aflame and engulfs you forever? You start to think that those things aren’t likely, so you skip life insurance.

But life insurance is very important, especially if you have assets you need to protect. Don’t expect any life insurance policy to be completely sufficient for providing for loved ones after your death, though. Further measures should be used.

Dealing with the will

When someone dies, the people around them tend to assume that there’s a will. But a will isn’t something that just exists; it has to have been carefully created by the deceased! (Before they become deceased, of course.) And that’s not exactly a barrel of laughs, which might explain why a lot of people don’t actually have one.

It’s vital that you look into developing a will as soon as possible. It’s not exactly as easy as making a list of your possessions and writing down who you want to get what. It can be a bit more involved than that. But if you work with solicitors such as those at Wilson Browne, it can be less complex.

Where help can be found

It’s important to know that there is financial help available to those who have lost a partner. However, the first thing that needs to be looked into are the numerous benefits that were set up by the deceased. There’s insurance, of course. But there are also retirement plans, payable on death assets, and labor union payments to think about. The fact that these will come into play upon your death is something you should consider going forward.