What You Should Expect from a Financial Advisor After Losing Your Spouse
Losing a spouse is one of life’s hardest transitions. Beyond grief, there are many financial steps that, if addressed carefully, can give you peace of mind and protect your future. A good financial advisor will walk with you gently through this time, helping you make solid decisions without haste.
1. Assess Your Cash Flow Needs and Income Sources
Recalculate household cash flow: what income is changing? Social Security survivor benefits, pension survivors, required minimum distributions, ongoing investment income—some things may end, others begin. LA Wealth Management
Make sure you have sufficient liquidity (cash reserves) for immediate expenses, while also ensuring that money is working efficiently.
2. Coordinate Taxes and Legal/Financial Experts
Work with your CPA, estate attorney, and tax advisor (alongside your financial advisor) to ensure all filings (including for estate tax or portability) are handled correctly. LA Wealth Management
Make sure you understand where you stand in terms of tax exposure, and that important elections or filings aren’t missed.
3. Stabilize, Simplify, and Protect
Organize your financial accounts to see clearly what you own, what is owed, and what your monthly obligations are. Consolidate where helpful.
Review insurance (life, health, long-term care), and ensure you have adequate protection.
Guard against decisions made in haste—things like selling key assets, making large withdrawals, or making irrevocable changes. It’s okay to wait until you feel more stable to make big moves.
4. Understand & Leverage the “Step-Up in Basis”
Review non-qualified accounts you and your spouse held (brokerage accounts, investment real estate, etc.) to understand whether you’re eligible for a step-up in basis. This means assets can be re-valued as of the date of your spouse’s death, often reducing capital gains taxes if you later sell.
If you live in a community property state, often the entire property may qualify for a full step-up; in non-community-property states, sometimes only the deceased spouse’s portion gets the step-up.
5. Evaluate Whether You Need to File IRS Form 706 / Use Portability
If your spouse’s estate might exceed the federal estate tax exemption, your advisor can help determine if IRS Form 706 must be filed. The exemption is substantial, but if exceeded, estate taxes may apply.
Even if the estate is under the threshold, filing Form 706 can allow you to claim portability—i.e. you may use any unused estate tax exemption by your spouse, which could protect your estate later.
6. Get Your Home and Other Real Estate Appraised as of Date-of-Death (DOD)
Make sure your primary residence—and any other real estate (e.g. vacation homes, rentals)—is appraised for its fair market value as of the date of your spouse’s death. This helps establish the proper basis for tax calculations if you ever sell.
Work with a certified appraiser who understands estate-related valuations. Keep detailed documentation of the appraisal.
7. Update Beneficiaries and Estate Planning Documents
Ensure all beneficiary designations (on life insurance, retirement accounts, annuities, bank accounts) reflect your new situation. These often override wills/trusts, so mistakes or omissions can cause unintended outcomes.
Review and revise wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other estate documents so they align with your wishes and with your current financial and family situation.
8. Create a Forward-Looking Plan for Long-Term Well-Being
Once the immediate pieces are handled, work with your advisor to build a renewed financial plan that reflects your changed circumstances. Retirement, estate legacy, charitable giving, investment goals — all may need revisiting.
Keep your advisor accountable for revisiting this plan regularly, especially as life and markets change.
Grief and financial complexity should not compound one another. At LA Wealth Management, our role is to provide steady guidance, thoughtful coordination, and compassionate support so you can move forward at your own pace — with clarity and confidence.