News & Education

Welcome to our WealthStyles segment – your online access to approachable ideas about financial planning with a lifestyle and life event approach.

A death in the family - When you're the surviving partner
available in PDF format

Life Insurance
It's not nice to contemplate, but one of you will probably pass away before the other. As the surviving spouse, you will have some details to attend to and may need some direction or assistance along the way.

See your financial advisor
Your first step is to visit your financial advisor. Your will want to accomplish two objectives at this meeting;

1. Organize your income and assets now that they've all changed into your hands.
2. Come up with tax strategies for passing the assets on after your own death.

“Giving assets to the next generation is a huge taxable event,” says Guthrie. “It's important for the surviving spouse to see a financial planner to estimate what her tax liability will be.”

For the full article, click here (PDF format)