Brian Scribonia walks through what executors actually do when settling an estate: working with attorneys and funeral homes, handling finances, and managing the emotional weight of it all after losing someone.
My name is Brian Scribonia and on this episode of the Common Sense Financial Podcast, if your loved one owned a small business or professional practice, a discussion with business partners and clients may be necessary, as well as consulting with the company attorney who has advised the business. If there is a child in college, it may be a good idea to contact the financial aid office to inform them of what has happened. Depending on the school and the financial situation, the surviving child may qualify for more assistance. Foreign.
And thank you for listening and joining us today. We hope that this podcast can provide you with some insights to help you grow and get closer to your goals this year. But before we get started, be sure to subscribe to this podcast. That way you'll be notified about new content and you'll be able to listen to Brian tackle a variety of different topics so you can subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, pretty much anywhere that podcast can be found and all the links to subscribe as well as past episodes are available on the website@Brian Scribonia.com so thanks again for tuning in and let's get started.
Opportunities are still there. The attempt at passing down wealth from generation to generation. Consider the outcome, not just popular opinion.
And the whole teaching there is about preparedness and being ready.
There's a difference between what's real and what's true. You're listening to the Common Sense Financial Podcast. I'm your host Brian Scribonian. Thanks for tuning in and let's get into today's topic. The loss of a loved one can be an overwhelming experience and to make matters worse, through the grief there are important decisions that have to be made. Having a clearly defined process in place for managing an estate can help avoid the emotional drain of making important decisions. Of course, it's completely natural for emotions to run high when a loved one passes and to have some confusion around what to do and when to do it. And when you are in this type of situation, it is all too common to have well intentioned friends and family members who want to come out and support you and care for you, offering you their opinion and advice. And while this can be helpful at times, the downside of acting on this information without a well thought out plan can potentially lead to problems and regrets. After everything is said and done, there may be a sense of urgency to settle the estate, but it's important to be mindful of the fact that this is not a process that should be rushed. An executor is acting as a fiduciary and you are likely working through a lifetime of someone's financial life with that, you will want to ensure the estate is settled properly, which can only be accomplished with a well thought out plan and process to follow. I often recommend working through this process and steps to help avoid many of the common problems that may surface when attempting to take on too many things too quickly. Setting some expectations for yourself and the beneficiaries of the estate is a great first step to help minimize the confusion and questions around how long it will take to settle the estate. This process can take anywhere from two months to several years, depending on the type of assets that are owned and the size and complexity of the estate. Inevitably, there will likely be somebody in the mix of people you are communicating with who has their own expectations of how long this process may take, and getting out in front of this will save a lot of time and a lot of energy. To help you navigate through the important decisions you need to make and provide clarity about what needs to be done, you can download a checklist I put together titled A Checklist to Help Manage the the Loss of a Loved One. I will place a link to this in the show Notes One of the first contacts you'll make is to a funeral home to arrange a viewing, cremation or burial in accordance with the wishes of the deceased. Now, you have likely already done this, but you should know that the funeral home director will often help obtain death certificates. Of course, you will need these before any claims can be filed, which will most often require originals. Once submitted, you may not get these back, so it's always a good idea to request maybe 10 or 12 original documents to have on hand as you work through submitting death claims. If the funeral home director, for whatever reason, cannot assist you with this, you can always call or email the county clerk or the recorder for assistance before rushing to check things off your list and quickly make decisions. It's important.
