Fee-only financial advisors for recent widows and widowers.
Widowhood triggers financial complexity: inherited IRAs, life insurance payouts, pension survivor elections, Social Security survivor benefit, single-filer tax brackets (often much higher than joint), housing decisions, estate update. Grief + decision overload = common mistakes that cost hundreds of thousands.
What our matched specialists handle
- Inherited $1.8M in IRAs — what do I need to do?
- Life insurance payout just arrived — now what?
- Social Security survivor benefit — when to claim?
- Filing single for first time — tax shock
- Housing — keep, sell, downsize, rent?
- Estate update — who's my beneficiary now?
Tools & guides
Widow(er) Survivor Benefits Calculator
Estimate your new Social Security survivor benefit, understand the tax filing change, and see what to do with inherited retirement accounts.
Inherited IRA Rules for Surviving Spouses
Spousal rollover vs. keeping as inherited IRA vs. the new SECURE Act 2.0 election — and how to choose based on your age and income needs.
How to File a Life Insurance Claim After Your Spouse Dies
The insurer won't reach out — you must initiate. How to find the policy, what documents you need, timelines (many states require payment within 30 days), payment options, and what to do if the claim is denied.
What to Do With Life Insurance Proceeds
The payout is income-tax-free — but how you handle it in the first year determines how much you keep. Key tax moves, the mortgage question, and avoiding costly mistakes.
Social Security Survivor Benefits for Widows
When to claim, how much the 28.5% early reduction costs, the switch strategy, the GPO repeal, and the widow's limit explained.
The Widow's Tax Penalty
Filing single after your spouse dies costs more than most people expect — compressed brackets, lower standard deduction, and IRMAA thresholds that can add $7,000+/year. Here's the 2026 math and how to reduce the hit.
Should I Sell My House After My Spouse Dies?
The 2-year window to claim the $500K capital gains exclusion, how step-up in basis works in community vs. common law states, and the staying-vs-selling financial framework.
Updating Beneficiary Designations After Your Spouse Dies
Beneficiary forms override your will. Here's the 7-account checklist — retirement accounts, life insurance, brokerage TOD, bank POD, real estate — plus the estate documents you need to update in your own plan.
Pension Survivor Benefits After Your Spouse Dies
What you're owed from a defined-benefit pension, FERS and CSRS survivor rules, PBGC protection, and the lump-sum vs. annuity decision you can't undo.
Roth Conversion Strategy for Widows
The year your spouse dies may be your best Roth conversion opportunity ever — MFJ brackets are roughly twice the width of single-filer brackets. Here's how to use the joint-year window before it closes.
Managing Your Investments After Your Spouse Dies
What to do first, what not to do for 90 days, asset allocation for widows, withdrawal sequencing, how to spot financial predators, and how to find a fee-only advisor who actually acts in your interest.
What Happens to a 401(k) or 403(b) When Your Spouse Dies
You're the ERISA-protected default beneficiary. Your four options — roll to own IRA, inherited IRA, stay in plan, lump sum — and the most important decision: whether you're under 59½ or not.
What Happens to an Annuity When Your Spouse Dies
The spousal continuation option (IRC §72(s)(3)) lets you step into the owner's shoes and defer taxes — but you have a limited window to elect it. Plus: why annuities get no step-up in basis, the LIFO withdrawal rule, and how to find the cost basis.
Health Insurance After Your Spouse Dies
Lost coverage under your spouse's employer plan? You have 60 days to act. COBRA gives 36 months of continuation at full premium cost; Medicare's 8-month SEP begins the moment the employer plan ends; and the ACA marketplace opens a 60-day special enrollment window. Here's how to compare them.
Required Minimum Distributions After Your Spouse Dies
When your spouse dies, your RMD rules change immediately. How to calculate what you owe, the spousal rollover timing advantage, and how QCDs can eliminate the tax on up to $111,000/year.
Step-Up in Basis After Your Spouse Dies
Which assets reset to fair market value at death — stocks, real estate, business interests — and which don't. IRAs and 401(k)s get no step-up; the year-of-death joint return is your window to act before single-filer rates kick in.
What Happens to a Living Trust When Your Spouse Dies
Joint revocable trusts don't end at one spouse's death — they change. What to do first, whether your trust splits into A/B trusts, when you need a new tax ID, and how to elect portability before the window closes.
Am I Responsible for My Deceased Spouse's Debt?
In most states, you are not personally responsible for debts in your late spouse's name alone. What you actually owe across credit cards, mortgage, student loans, and car loans — and your rights when collectors call.
Filing Taxes After Your Spouse Dies
Three separate filings: the final joint Form 1040, the estate income return (Form 1041 — required when estate assets earn $600+), and Form 706 to capture the portability election that could preserve millions in estate tax exemption.
Probate After Your Spouse Dies: What You Need to Know
Most marital assets — IRAs, 401(k)s, life insurance, joint accounts — bypass probate entirely. Here's which assets require probate, how long it takes (6–18 months typically), what it costs, and the federal tax deadlines that run in parallel.
Long-Term Care Planning for Widows
Without a spousal caregiver, the financial risk of needing care falls entirely on you. The real cost of care in 2026, Medicare's 100-day limit, LTC insurance deductions by age, the Medicaid 5-year look-back, and the irrevocable trust strategy.
Remarriage Financial Planning for Widows
Remarrying affects your Social Security survivor benefit, your tax brackets, your IRMAA tier, your §121 home-sale exclusion, and who your ERISA-governed retirement accounts must name. What to model before you say yes.
How to Find a Financial Advisor After Your Spouse Dies
What a widow specialist knows that a generalist doesn't, how to vet for fee-only fiduciaries, six questions to ask before you hire, and red flags that signal a commission conflict.
VA Survivor Benefits for Military Widows: DIC, SBP & CHAMPVA
If your spouse was a veteran or servicemember, you may receive DIC ($1,699/mo tax-free), SBP (55% of retired pay), and CHAMPVA health coverage. Since January 2023, the SBP-DIC offset is eliminated — you receive both in full.
What Happens to Bank Accounts When Your Spouse Dies
Joint accounts with right of survivorship pass automatically. Solely-owned accounts are frozen until the estate is settled. FDIC's 6-month grace period, CDs, I-Bonds, safe deposit boxes, and what to do in the first week.
7 Costly Financial Mistakes Widows Make — and How to Avoid Them
The Roth conversion window that closes December 31. The 2-year home sale exclusion. The 401(k) withholding trap. The portability election most estates miss. Seven mistakes that collectively cost families tens of thousands — all avoidable with the right timing.
Reverse Mortgage When Your Spouse Dies: Non-Borrowing Spouse Rules
If your late spouse had a reverse mortgage and you weren't on the loan, whether you can stay in the home depends on whether you qualify as an Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse — and you may have 90 days to establish that right. Here's what to do immediately.
IRMAA Appeal After Your Spouse Dies: The SSA-44 Form
Medicare charges surcharges based on your old joint-return income — even though you're now a single filer with less income. Form SSA-44 lets you use your current, lower income instead. How to file, what to submit, and how much you can save.
Inherited HSA After Spouse Dies: Rules for Surviving Spouses
If your spouse named you beneficiary, their HSA transfers to you tax-free and becomes your own account — a rare and often missed advantage. The 2026 contribution rules, how Medicare enrollment affects what you can add, and how to use the balance to stay under the IRMAA threshold.
Estate Planning for Widows: Rebuilding Your Plan
Your estate plan was built for a married couple. Your will names your spouse as beneficiary; your POA names your spouse as your agent. Here's how to rebuild it — new will, new agents, portability election, estate tax review, and gifting strategy.
Savings Bonds After Your Spouse Dies: I Bonds, EE Bonds, What to Do
Savings bonds don't get a step-up in basis — unlike stocks and real estate, the accrued interest carries forward as taxable income. How to claim and transfer bonds, a critical election on the final joint return that can save thousands, and how to decide whether to cash in or hold.
Employer Stock in Your Late Spouse's 401(k): The NUA Tax Strategy
If your spouse held company stock in their 401(k), rolling it to an IRA may cost tens of thousands in unnecessary taxes. The net unrealized appreciation (NUA) election taxes the growth at long-term capital gains rates instead of ordinary income — but the decision is permanent and time-sensitive.
How to Apply for Social Security Survivor Benefits
You cannot apply online — you must call 1-800-772-1213 or visit a local SSA office. What documents to bring, when to apply (delay costs you real money), how to claim the $255 death benefit at the same time, and what to expect from the process.
Social Security Survivor Benefits for Widow's Children
Each qualifying child receives 75% of your late spouse's Social Security benefit. You receive a separate Mother's/Father's benefit — also 75% — while caring for a child under 16, regardless of your own age. The family maximum cap, the blackout period for young widows, and how to apply.
Social Security Survivor Benefits for Divorced Spouses
If your ex-spouse died and your marriage lasted at least 10 years, you may qualify for up to 100% of their Social Security benefit — even if they remarried. The 10-year rule, benefit amounts by claiming age, the switch strategy, and the GPO repeal that restored benefits for government workers.
Are Social Security Survivor Benefits Taxable?
Yes — and the single-filer provisional income thresholds ($25,000 / $34,000) are $10,000 lower than the married thresholds ($32,000 / $44,000). That gap can push more of your survivor benefit into the taxable zone even if your total income hasn't changed. The 2026 math, the 8 states that tax SS, and how QCDs and Roth conversions reduce the hit.
Inherited Rental Property After Your Spouse Dies
The step-up in basis wipes out prior depreciation — you start fresh with a new 27.5-year schedule at today's value. But your spouse's suspended passive losses may be permanently gone. Whether to keep, sell, or 1031-exchange, and the NIIT trap at the $200K single-filer threshold.
Inherited Roth IRA After Your Spouse Dies
A spousal rollover converts the inherited Roth into your own account — no RMDs ever. If you're under 59½ and need access, the inherited Roth stretch option lets you take distributions penalty-free. How the 5-year clock works, the SECURE 2.0 Roth 401(k) RMD elimination, and why Roth withdrawals are invisible to IRMAA and Social Security taxation.
What Happens to the Mortgage When Your Spouse Dies?
Federal law (Garn-St. Germain) prevents your lender from demanding immediate repayment — even if the mortgage was in your spouse's name alone. How to notify your servicer, what documents to send, your options if you can't afford the payment, and whether to pay it off with life insurance proceeds.
Widow(er) Financial Planning Guide
Detailed framework — rules, tradeoffs, employer- and account-specific nuances, common mistakes.
How matching works
Get matched with a specialist
Fee-only advisor with no commission conflict. Free match.
Widow Advisor Match is a matching service. We connect you with vetted fee-only financial advisors in our network — we don't manage money or provide advice ourselves. Advisors in our network are fiduciaries who charge transparent fees (not product commissions), and we match you based on your specific situation.