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It is incredibly devastating when you lose someone close to you. The weight of the loss hangs heavily over your daily life, but you’re barely given the time to grieve. In a terrible turn of events, losing a loved one triggers some serious financial concerns. This, unfortunately, means you have to spend time dealing with the aftermath.
In this article, we’ll explain some of the main financial consequences and how you can deal with them as quickly as possible. It will help you handle this loss and get passed the annoying admin work so you’re able to drive properly.
Funeral Expenses
The average cost of a funeral in the USA is just under $8,000. For context, that’s enough to buy a reasonably good second-hand car or pay for a decent home renovation. It should never be this way, but that’s a reflection of the society we live in.
For grieving relatives, funeral expenses are a bitter pill to swallow. You want to give your loved one a good send-off, yet finding the money to pay for everything can be hard. The best options are to pool money together as a family, start a donation page in the person’s honor, or use some of the money they’ve left behind.
Settling The Estate
When someone passes away, they leave behind an “estate”. Effectively, this refers to all of their assets and everything they’re leaving behind. In movies, you may see someone pass away and their relatives automatically inherit everything. We wish life was this simple!
In reality, you have to hire a probate attorney to deal with settling the estate. They will help you make sense of everything the person has left behind, so it all goes to the right places. You will also need their assistance with things like debt. If your loved one was in debt, then it could pass to you. Settling the estate helps you realize what you’re taking on or what actions can be taken to absolve debt. Regardless, this is one of the most complicated and stressful financial consequences of death and must be taken seriously.
Income Loss
If the person who passed away was your partner - and responsible for your income - then you’ll feel this loss extra heavily. As well as dealing with the terrible realization that this person is gone forever, you’re stuck trying to figure out how to deal with an immediate loss of income.
Again, managing their estate can help you identify income sources or ways to gain an influx of cash until you find a job. If your partner had life insurance, then you can receive monthly payouts to help tide you over. Before you tackle anything else, speak to a financial advisor or lawyer about dealing with the loss of income. They’ll help you find the right solutions going forward.
Worrying about money is the last thing you want to do when a loved one passes. Sadly, it’s almost impossible to grieve until you’ve sorted out the financial aftermath. Deal with the money situation and then you’re finally free to deal with the loss in a healthy manner.
