A recent widow was overwhelmed with financial details following her husband’s death. It was late 2007—financial uncertainty was in the air, and she had more debt than she felt comfortable with. She had two properties she wanted to sell in a challenging real estate market. Insurance proceeds would be forthcoming, and she knew the details of a 401(k) and a company pension plan. We guided her through the estate settlement process, helping her set up investment accounts, initiating paperwork to request rollovers, advising her on social security survivor’s benefits, and offering suggestions for disposal of the real estate properties and reducing debt. The real estate eventually sold, estate settlement proceeds were received, and debt was paid down. We worked with her to establish a sound investment plan to move forward with confidence.
We continued working with her to monitor her accounts and make adjustments to them as needed. Two years later when her mother died, we reviewed the tax forms issued to beneficiaries of the estate, and determined that the taxable income to survivors had been incorrectly calculated by insurance companies. We worked to obtain revised tax forms, resulting in amended tax returns that secured a tax refund of $37,000.
Our client received the guidance she needed through a difficult time. She has since remarried and now maintains an active social life in her adopted home of Nashville.