Taking on the Financial Affairs of a Family Member 

Do one thing: Encourage or help aging parents and loved ones draft a will and an estate plan to ensure their wishes are known and carried out. 

Managing Money Matters for a Loved One

Stepping in to become a caregiver for someone you love can be meaningful and challenging at the same time, especially when that role also includes taking on their finances. And when your parent, spouse, or other family member dies, the work required to handle their estate can seem overwhelming for those who aren’t fully prepared – and even for many who are. 

Importance of a Will

To make matters more complicated, research shows that a majority of Americans don’t have a will. A national survey conducted in 2025 found that:

• Only 24% of U.S. adults surveyed reported having a will, a drop from 33% of respondents in 2022.
• Adults with children younger than 18 make up the largest group of people without wills or other estate planning documents.

How to Handle the Finances of a Loved One

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prep for the inevitable. Certified Financial Planner Igor Aronov, founder of FAR Financial in Brooklyn, NY, recently lost his father. In the months that have followed, he has navigated many of the issues that arise after a loved one passes. Here is some of his best guidance on how to handle the financial affairs of a family member before and after their death. 

1. Plan Ahead: Have Conversations Sooner Rather Than Later

It’s important to talk to your loved ones about their wishes and to make sure you know where all of their financial papers are and how any online accounts can be accessed. As you begin to broach the subject of what needs to be accessible, it’s important to have a document – it can be a simple notebook or a computer spreadsheet – where all of that information lives.

“These can be very, very difficult and emotional conversations to have or to even think about, but they are absolutely necessary,” Aronov says. “One way to frame them is that they come from a place of love and care.” 

Topics of Discussion for Older Parents

For older parents or family members who may not already have their financial affairs in order, the conversations need to cover a wide range of topics, including:

• All money-related matters
• Retirement and pension plans (where they are located and who has access)
• Subscription services
• Credit card balances
• Utilities payments
• Car notes
• Insurance payments

Get Access to All Passwords

With the wide use of two-factor authentication, it’s important to have all user names, passwords, phone numbers, and email addresses associated with those accounts. (Keeping the email and phone of the person who died working and accessible to receive those notifications is hugely helpful!)

Lost or Forgotten Passwords?

If passwords or usernames have been forgotten or lost, now is the time to update the passwords together with your loved one to make accessing those accounts less complicated down the road.

Estate Documents Should be Prepared and Accessible

Here’s a list of estate documents that should be both prepared and accessible:

• Power of attorney (POA) can become an essential tool for moving forward.
• A will that is up to date and offers clear instructions is helpful, Aranov says, adding, “My father specifically wanted to be cremated, and it took some effort to persuade my mother to honor his wishes.”
• If there is a trust in place, check to make sure all the directives are current.
• Obtaining multiple copies of the death certificate is also a good idea.

Closing Credit Card Accounts

Aranov says closing credit card accounts before someone passes, if possible, is helpful. In his case, closing an account after his father’s death required the bank to have a copy of a POA on file, which needed to be faxed or mailed, which created quite a bit of work: “Ideally, it might be a good idea to take care of things like credit cards within a month after death,” he says, “to avoid dealing with any errant charges or even identity theft.”

Life Insurance and Annuities

Theoretically, filing a life insurance or annuities claim should be simple, notes Aranov. Some of it can be done electronically, though in his experience, the electronic application completely fell through the cracks. “I had to call the insurance company and had to fill out everything manually, and then emailed the completed forms to the company.”

Retirement Plans

In some situations, transferring retirement plans to a beneficiary can be more complicated than it should be. In his case, his father’s IRA account was transferred into his mother’s name. The account took some time for paperwork to be processed, and then neither his father’s old account nor a newly created account for his mom was accessible, he says. His father’s required minimum distributions stopped arriving, and it took more time and phone calls to set things right. Looking back, he says gathering this information ahead of time would have been helpful.

Car Registration and Insurance

If your loved one has a spouse, the car insurance and registration will need to be updated and changed to the surviving spouse’s name. Depending on the insurance company, the switchover can probably be done online or over the phone. Changing a car’s registration may mean a trip to the DMV.

Bank Accounts

For Aranov and his family, dealing with bank accounts was one of the easiest tasks. That was partially because some of the accounts were already in his mother’s name and partially because his parents had established relationships at their local bank. If you make sure a spouse or beneficiary’s name is added to an account before a loved one dies, it will likely be much easier to access funds when needed.

With reporting by Casandra Andrews