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Survivor Assistance: How We Can Help DURING a Tragedy

Losing a spouse or family member might well be one of your life’s most painful, traumatic, and challenging experiences. Typically, we are one of the first phone calls made by a client who has experienced a loss of a loved one. During this hardship, we’ll be there to listen. Our relationships with our clients may last many years, so we empathize with your pain. We want you to be prepared to manage your finances quickly in that trying time.

Wealth Management Accounting’s (WMA) process is designed with you in mind. Whether it be our clients or their family members, we want to ensure that any financial transition and decision goes as smoothly and painlessly as possible – all while still being tailored specifically for your individual needs! Our survivor assistance service is one of the most valuable services at WMA.

Our team has prepared helpful tools that clearly outline the immediate actions that need to be done following a tragedy. Afterward, we prepare steps and timelines for tasks that can be dealt with further down the road. Though it may be challenging, ensuring one’s affairs are in order is essential. Please remember that our team includes your accountant, financial advisor, attorney, and qualified staff that know your family and finances.

What Survivor Assistance Includes:

  1. An executor checklist to guide in closing your spouse’s estate.
    • A guide for the executor of your estate to help them through closing.
    • Recommendation of a trusted attorney to assist in closing the spouse’s estate.
  1. Help with potential tax changes and adjustments to your tax reduction plan. (This is essential.)
    • The loss of a spouse could change Social Security benefits.
    • While income goes down, taxes may go up. If you experience a change in your marital status, your tax-filing situation will change, too.
  1. An update to your estate plan.
    • Consider adding a trusted child or relative to your living trust as a co-trustee.
    • Add one of your non-managing members of your Family LLC to managing member status.
  1. Assessment of your asset investment strategy and income needs (prepare a new plan).
    • The WMA team will help a surviving spouse determine whether to keep their late husband’s or wife’s IRA in their name or roll it over to their own.
    • Clearly define your monthly income needs and adjust your plan accordingly.
  1. On-call team members to answer questions.
    • Single seniors are particularly vulnerable to costly investment mistakes, predatory sales tactics, scams, etc. Our clients will be comfortable knowing they can call our team whenever a question arises. We will provide a solid bearing when pressed to make a difficult decision.

We want to offer relief during trying times; our team is ready to assist you when the unthinkable happens. We have already considered the hypotheticals and have taken the time to discuss essential points around present needs and future misfortune. Planning and preparing for the inevitable is one of our vital aspects at WMA. Part of our mission is to help clients make financial decisions in an ordered, rational fashion rather than leaving them in a position to react to negative news. This is a raw, emotional state to be in, and even a minor decision can be upsetting.

We offer this assistance in addition to various other services in our Financial Circle of Care. Our other services include: Medicaid spend-down, creating and operating a family LLC (FLLC), and developing a tax-efficient strategy to minimize tax liability. We understand the difficulties this time will present, and we do not want you to have to spend more time than is needed to complete these tasks. We encourage you to take care of these issues now. The more pre-planning you can do ahead of time, the less stress you will have in the future.