The hardest part of estate planning is when a client faces the imminent death of a spouse and needs help to prepare for the event. To smooth over the transition, get an early start and let the client work out all the details with the spouse so that a full understanding of the assets, obligations, and last wishes of the passing party are fully understood. Another tip is to make sure all bank accounts have the names of both spouses since that would speed up the transfer of control after death. Ultimately, it is better to have clients thinking about the future problems and issues so that they may be avoided and save much stress down the line.
See Miriam Rozen, Helping Clients Prepare for the Loss of a Spouse, Financial Planning, May 27, 2015.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
