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How to help someone sort finances in the event of death
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B0bbyEwing
Posts: 1,589 Forumite

I'm going on hol soon & will be flying. It made me think I should probably get something in place should that big bird fall out of the sky.
I also help manage various family members finances on their request which I guess can complicate matters.
So I'm currently putting things together in a spreadsheet for a trusted family member (trusted is wrong word, they're all trusted, but probably most competent would be a better phrasing), what's what & what to do if anything was to happen.
Am also going to create a Bitwarden account with necessary passwords. I know this could cause a hold up in advice but just trust me that this person is trusted & let's go on from there.
Obviously I'll want 2FA on email accounts & anything else that has it. The problem / my concern is that they could have all the information but then need to access authenticator apps / emails / mobile phones.
I'm sorting the finances but I don't want to hand over access to absolutely everything, even if I wouldn't be here any more.
I'm sure some of you will have already sorted something to be in place so looking for advice so they don't run in to a brick wall.
EDIT to question -
Just had a thought. If I die then the life insurance should pay out & this is enough for my wife to pay off the mortgage and vice versa.
What happens in the event we both die at the same time?
I don't imagine the bank says - ahh that's a bit unfortunate for you, let's forget about it but I imagine most people wouldn't have savings to cover their mortgage? Would it be to the family left behind to find anything like life insurance/death policy & use that to pay the mortgage?
Basically asking whether I should be including the life insurance policy info with this or not.
I also help manage various family members finances on their request which I guess can complicate matters.
So I'm currently putting things together in a spreadsheet for a trusted family member (trusted is wrong word, they're all trusted, but probably most competent would be a better phrasing), what's what & what to do if anything was to happen.
Am also going to create a Bitwarden account with necessary passwords. I know this could cause a hold up in advice but just trust me that this person is trusted & let's go on from there.
Obviously I'll want 2FA on email accounts & anything else that has it. The problem / my concern is that they could have all the information but then need to access authenticator apps / emails / mobile phones.
I'm sorting the finances but I don't want to hand over access to absolutely everything, even if I wouldn't be here any more.
I'm sure some of you will have already sorted something to be in place so looking for advice so they don't run in to a brick wall.
EDIT to question -
Just had a thought. If I die then the life insurance should pay out & this is enough for my wife to pay off the mortgage and vice versa.
What happens in the event we both die at the same time?
I don't imagine the bank says - ahh that's a bit unfortunate for you, let's forget about it but I imagine most people wouldn't have savings to cover their mortgage? Would it be to the family left behind to find anything like life insurance/death policy & use that to pay the mortgage?
Basically asking whether I should be including the life insurance policy info with this or not.
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Comments
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Let’s start with the basics. Do you both have wills in place? Do you both have financial LPAs in place? If the answer to either is no, then that is your starting point. Your will will appoint executors who can act for your estate on your death, and will deal with the issue of the possibility of you dying at the same time.Death is not the only thing that you need to consider, you nay Ned someone to deal with your financial affairs should you ever lose mental capacity though illness or accident which is where the LPA comes in.0
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That's a lot to unpack and there are some notable omissions such as do you and your wife have wills which name each other as executors? If not, getting wills drawn up, including naming "backup" executor(s) to cover the eventuality of both spouses dying simultaneously would be a priority.
Regarding life assurance, assuming the policy provisions are met, policies would pay out to respective estates in the event of both spouses dying simultaneously. That's when the backup executor(s) would step in and manage the estate, making the claims on production of death certificates and probate confirmation.
On your point about "helping" manage family members’ finances: are you offering informal advice, or actively executing transactions on their behalf? If it’s the latter, and there’s no registered Power of Attorney (PoA) in place and activated, that’s a legal grey area. Indeed you'd likely be crossing into unlawful territory if you passed on PINs, login details, or 2FA codes to a third party even if you judge them as 'competent'.
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You may want to read this for some ideas of gaps to think about and cover:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/what-to-do-when-someone-dies/
Google lets you pass on your account to specific people when you become inactive:
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en
I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Credit Cards, Savings & investments, and Budgeting & Bank Accounts boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.
All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0 -
B0bbyEwing said:I'm going on hol soon & will be flying. It made me think I should probably get something in place should that big bird fall out of the sky.
I also help manage various family members finances on their request which I guess can complicate matters.
So I'm currently putting things together in a spreadsheet for a trusted family member (trusted is wrong word, they're all trusted, but probably most competent would be a better phrasing), what's what & what to do if anything was to happen.
Am also going to create a Bitwarden account with necessary passwords. I know this could cause a hold up in advice but just trust me that this person is trusted & let's go on from there.
Obviously I'll want 2FA on email accounts & anything else that has it. The problem / my concern is that they could have all the information but then need to access authenticator apps / emails / mobile phones.
I'm sorting the finances but I don't want to hand over access to absolutely everything, even if I wouldn't be here any more.
I'm sure some of you will have already sorted something to be in place so looking for advice so they don't run in to a brick wall.
EDIT to question -
Just had a thought. If I die then the life insurance should pay out & this is enough for my wife to pay off the mortgage and vice versa.
What happens in the event we both die at the same time?
I don't imagine the bank says - ahh that's a bit unfortunate for you, let's forget about it but I imagine most people wouldn't have savings to cover their mortgage? Would it be to the family left behind to find anything like life insurance/death policy & use that to pay the mortgage?
Basically asking whether I should be including the life insurance policy info with this or not.
However having a sensible and proportionate plan is a commendable aim.
Just to answer the paragraph I have highlighted, most solicitors when drafting wills etc suggest using a clause that any beneficiary must survive you by at least one month in order to inherit. You have to draw a line somewhere but this generally saves long and expensive medical and legal arguments about who died first if you are both involved in the same accident.
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Undervalued said:B0bbyEwing said:I'm going on hol soon & will be flying. It made me think I should probably get something in place should that big bird fall out of the sky.
I also help manage various family members finances on their request which I guess can complicate matters.
So I'm currently putting things together in a spreadsheet for a trusted family member (trusted is wrong word, they're all trusted, but probably most competent would be a better phrasing), what's what & what to do if anything was to happen.
Am also going to create a Bitwarden account with necessary passwords. I know this could cause a hold up in advice but just trust me that this person is trusted & let's go on from there.
Obviously I'll want 2FA on email accounts & anything else that has it. The problem / my concern is that they could have all the information but then need to access authenticator apps / emails / mobile phones.
I'm sorting the finances but I don't want to hand over access to absolutely everything, even if I wouldn't be here any more.
I'm sure some of you will have already sorted something to be in place so looking for advice so they don't run in to a brick wall.
EDIT to question -
Just had a thought. If I die then the life insurance should pay out & this is enough for my wife to pay off the mortgage and vice versa.
What happens in the event we both die at the same time?
I don't imagine the bank says - ahh that's a bit unfortunate for you, let's forget about it but I imagine most people wouldn't have savings to cover their mortgage? Would it be to the family left behind to find anything like life insurance/death policy & use that to pay the mortgage?
Basically asking whether I should be including the life insurance policy info with this or not.
However having a sensible and proportionate plan is a commendable aim.
Just to answer the paragraph I have highlighted, most solicitors when drafting wills etc suggest using a clause that any beneficiary must survive you by at least one month in order to inherit. You have to draw a line somewhere but this generally saves long and expensive medical and legal arguments about who died first if you are both involved in the same accident.Without a survivorship clause his estate passes to her IHT free and her estate has exemptions of £1M so no IHT payable.Where a couple die together and the sequence of deaths cannot be determined then it is deemed that the oldest died first so there should be no expensive legal hoops to jump through.0 -
Shouldn't this be in the "Death, Funerals and Probate" section of the "Life & Family" sub forum?
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SurferDan said:Shouldn't this be in the "Death, Funerals and Probate" section of the "Life & Family" sub forum?
Thats my primary even though I knew the thread would go down the road of wills & such.
On the topic of which, no, no will in place & no time to sort one between now and then either.
Also I know that flying will be statistically the safer way of travelling however if something goes wrong flying then what do statistics say about survival rates then?
I've been in 3 car bumps & 1 bicycle-car collision & survived all of them.
Not sure how many times I'd survive falling out of the sky though if it was to happen.0 -
There is now a tech aspect to estate planning, eg my executor can invoke a access request to password vault which automatically grants after 7 days0
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