What needs to be done after the death of a family member?

DouginUtah · April 11, 2011, 07:48:29 PM

You may have read of the death of my wife's father last week. Thanks for the condolences and comments.

Now we are taking care of things that are supposed to be done to settle the estate. The basics are not much of a problem as he had a trust. Social security appears to be the most important to take care of right away and that has been done.

What we are wondering about are some other things that might not be so obvious. There have been several posts here where a family member has died. Do you have any advice/checklist of things you have found that need to be done? Or that you got into trouble for not doing? ;D

Today I have been trying to find out about credit union life insurance--the kind where you get a letter saying you have a basic policy by being a member but if you would like more send in the form. The credit unions we have called act like they have never heard of it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thecfarm · April 11, 2011, 08:03:50 PM

I had 2 credit unions accounts,one here in Maine,one in CO.The life insurance in Maine is an amount,like $2000 for free the one in CO if I wanted it I had to pay for. Is your Mother still living. Everything went to my Mother,than she got old on me and I got POA and everything was quite easy than. Did have a time with the land here. Everything had to be probated because my Mother's name was not on some of the deeds. I did found an old life insurance that my father's grandmother had on him. Was not a big amount,but we cashed it in. Get as many death certificates as you can and get more. Seems like here in Maine the first bunch from where ever I got them from are cheap,like $1 each.Seems almost from the funeral home.But than if you need more,$5 or 10 each. Go through any papers nice and slow.Never know what you will find. I have all my in my dresser draw for the wife to handle. Don't want to be mean,but how many keys are out there for the home,outbuildings? Things can disappear.

WDH · April 11, 2011, 08:07:41 PM

Doug,

Sorry to hear of your loss. Settling an Estate is a big job.

thecfarm · April 11, 2011, 08:12:44 PM

One other question,will the whole estate be sold? Than the money split up among the family? There is a guy that does this and everything is categorized and accounted for so no one can complain. Than a auction is held. He takes a cut,but at least people MAYBE happy.

SPIKER · April 11, 2011, 08:27:33 PM

also check to see if his taxes have been filed for 2010 as the estate is responsible for filing them if there are over $5000.00 of value and if there have been SS payments those may have to be repaid back to SS if he passed away prior to a certain day of the month. (last week I finally settled my brothers probate which consisted of a truck & a bank account.) I still have to get the title for the truck done. it is older and in bad shape as he had it tore apart to put interior work into it. it is half gutted but I'm going to let his Son's GF have it as it will still run just needs put back together.

Like others said make sure there is a new lock on the door as things can disappear, when my GFs mom passed away her sister was living whit the mom. seems all of the stuff my GF was supposed to get "disappeared" and or according to her sister never in the home. There is/are some gangs of robbers around our area that hit the homes of deceased people and their relatives when the funeral is going on. I was hit when her dad passed they broke into one of my cars & stole a bunch of stuff as well as hit one of her uncles place & kicked in back door & took a bunch of misc small stuff looking for cash & guns ect. Cops said ya your names were in the paper and the time date of funeral & knew you were away & free pickings... hit in day light... ggrr

Mark

WH_Conley · April 11, 2011, 10:18:44 PM

A lot of times a neighbor will come in and "House Sit" while a funeral is going on.

Bill · April 11, 2011, 10:33:17 PM

fwiw - I hear California ( now ? ) does not require there to be a death notice in the newspaper - wonder if this is part of the reason why . . .

There's a book my sister and I got when Mom passed last year that has been real helpful -
" The Executor's Guide " from Nolo ( publisher ) and was in the local public library . It's written for regular people and explains things so we could understand it - pretty much so anyways .

There's also some info on the IRS web site - but - not so easy to follow .

Sorry for your loss

DanG · April 11, 2011, 10:42:24 PM

Lots of good advice so far, but laws vary from State to State. I would think that your funeral director would be your best source of info for your area, and probably has some pamphlets that would help.

Tom_Averwater · April 11, 2011, 10:52:46 PM

The lawyer that drew up the trust could be of help .

beenthere · April 11, 2011, 11:15:43 PM

For Doug in Utah, are there online guidelines available for the state of Utah? Are you the executor of the estate and in charge?

For the posting of obituaries, I heard another scam that survives off the obituaries. A person who reads obituaries across the country on line, will note the surviving members' names of the family. Then call an elderly person who is known to be a grand parent. Posing as a grandson by name and in trouble with the law, he is asking for a small amount of bail money wired to him. But he requests that his parents not find out. Sum of around $500 is asked for, and once the money order is made out, no recourse for the grandparent. Caught some guy that was getting several successful hits a day doing this online. This internet is great in many ways, but bad in so many other ways.

DouginUtah · April 12, 2011, 12:15:14 AM

Quote from: Tom_Averwater on April 11, 2011, 10:52:46 PM
The lawyer that drew up the trust could be of help .

That is a (slight) sore spot. Five years ago: Lawyer: "I'll be in touch every year to see if there are any changes."
Have never heard from him since, except today my wife called him and there is something about an A and B trust that I don't understand but it has to have a letter from mother-in-law to fix it. ???

I read something on the IRS site about having to file a 1041. ???

He was buried on Friday but his doctor is out of town and there is supposed to be a death certificate before he can be buried, etc., etc.

I guess we will get all the details worked out eventually.

Edit: I am not the executor, my wife is, but her mother was supposed to get everything per the trust, except for the A B part discussed above. Nothing specific to Utah that I have found on the internet.

Thanks for all the replies.

Chuck White · April 12, 2011, 10:37:41 AM

Check any retirement issues.

Check with Social Security.

Check all banking institutions in the area, to include checking, savings & safe deposit boxes!

Check with Motor Vehicle Dept.

Possibly check with Social Services.

Check for Church Membership.

Check for possible land ownership, besides where she lived.

Check to see if she had left any notes as to, if someone was to receive something promised from her estate!

Check with the local Post Office.

Check with the local Library.

There are probably more places you should look, but basically anything that she might have been involved with.

EDIT: Check for Life Insurance and possibly prearranged funeral services.

Bill · April 12, 2011, 10:41:37 AM

Generally speaking the deceased has a final income tax return - IRS form 1040 for Jan 1, xxxx til the date of death.

After the date of death the " estate " has to file a IRS form 1041 for income received till the estate is settled ( distributed ).

The executor ( if none or no will then surviving spouse - if none then your state will have a list of people in priority by who ) is to handle the affairs of the deceased . Executor may ( always ? ) need to become the official legal representative ( appt by the courts ) .

There's a bunch more stuff that can become complicated real quick - conflicts, property, trusts, investments and such - which typically will require a lawyer to sort out ( and even they're subject to oversight by the courts - though it's also possible the courts or you may require a " bond " ).

The whole probate thing could be avoided if the deceased set things up while they're still able so they passed to beneficiaries at death ( titles held jointly, pay on death accounts, and such which are typically settled just by producing a certified Death Certificate ) leaving just the matter of settling up bills and cashing the last couple checks - especially if there is so little ( money ) no one is concerned.

Good Luck

Chris Burchfield · April 12, 2011, 05:54:58 PM

When my dad passed away, we ordered 15 "Certificate of Death" documents. Seemed everyone that held an account or policy for him required one from the Executor. Seems like we only had two or three left when everything was settled.

WDH · April 12, 2011, 08:23:35 PM

If there are cash assets, open up an estate account with a Federal ID#. If there is only cash and no stocks, bonds, or securities, set up the estate account so that it is a non interest earning account. That way, there will be no income being earned by the estate, and you will not have to file a tax return unless the estate is over the taxable limit (it used to be $3,000,000, not sure what it is this year).

If there are equity investments like stocks, bond, mutual funds, etc, then their basis will be the fair market value at the time of death. Any gain of those investments from the time of death until the estate is settled is taxed. So it is wise to establish the fair market value of the investments at death before too much time goes by.

When my father passed away, he only had CD's and cash besides his home and farm, so I set up the Estate Account to handle all transactions (creates a good audit trail) that did not earn any interest, so we did not have to file an Estate return.

timerover51 · April 13, 2011, 03:51:51 AM

A 1041 is an Estate Tax return that the estate will need to be filed next year. You will also need to file a 1040 for your father in law next year as well. My wife is a CPA and tax accountant, and there is a lot of tax work that will need to be done. I would recommend finding a good tax accountant that is familiar with estate and trust returns to start working on everything now, before things get mislaided. They should also be able to tell you what papers to start looking for and what you need to watch for in the future. You might want to contact a local H&R Block office and see if they have anyone that is a specialist in estate and trust returns.