Mel Abraham's father and father-in-law died within months of each other, leaving their wives with no idea how to pay bills or keep their homes. Both families had let one person handle all the money. Abraham argues that grieving families shouldn't have to figure out basic survival on top of their loss.
My dad and my father-in-law both ran all the money in their households. Within roughly the same window of time, both of them passed away. I watched my mom and my mother-in-law, two women who had just lost the loves of their lives. On top of grieving for the loss, on top of everything that comes with losing a husband of decades, they were also trying to figure out something basic. Think. Could they even stay in their homes? Could they even survive? Neither of them knew. Not because anyone hid it from them on purpose. Just because "my partner handles all that" had been true for so long that nobody ever thought to ask what happens if it stops being true. They were mourning and trying to survive at the exact same time. Nobody should have to do both of those.
