By Cheryl Winokur Munk

Dealing with the death of a family member is never easy, but there are ways to make the process of settling the estate process less confusing, overwhelming, and arduous.

Tips from financial advisors include creating roadmaps for heirs, getting help with administrative duties, and finding appropriate real estate, tax, and other professionals.

Some heirs assume that if they have estate planning documents, they're all set, but wills and living trusts are just "table stakes," says Kelly Nilsson, founder of Brava Financial in San Diego. "There is so much more that goes into settling an estate."

People who have lost loved ones are grieving, and when you layer on all the administrative and practical decisions that need to be made, there's additional complexity, Nilsson says. "There's no way to make this experience feel like a Caribbean cruise."

However, financial advisors say there are ways to ease the burden of the estate-dissolution process:

Encourage pre-planning. "Proactive planning is important to make sure you aren't leaving a mess for your loved ones and that your wishes get carried out," says Russ DeLibero, chief wealth planning officer in the Atlanta office of Carmel, Ind.-based Oxford Financial Group.

Beyond appropriate estate-planning documents, it's advisable to prepare a "letter of wishes" to help the executor understand how you'd like your physical assets divided among heirs, since this may not be spelled out in a will or trust.

DeLibero also recommends clients keep a separate list of important information the executor needs, such as contacts for the decedent's CPA, attorney, insurance broker, financial advisor, and other key professionals. This list should also include whether advance funeral preparations have been made, how the executor can find and access digital assets (without divulging sensitive information), and where property deeds are located, DeLibero says.

By mapping out these details, you'll help your heirs avoid significant work and headaches.

Patrick Mundlin, financial advisor at 49 Financial in Austin, Texas, offers the example of a widower who had to scramble to understand all the couple's finances after his wife passed away at age 79. Mundlin spent three days at the couple's home, helping the 80-year-old widower piece together where the couple's investments were held and their worth. "We were essentially playing Sherlock Holmes to determine what accounts were still open, how much was in them, and where they were held," he says. "You have to know where things are."

Get advice about the process. Because of their close relationship with clients, financial advisors are a natural fit to help heirs through an emotionally overwhelming time, says Mikel Van Cleve, an advice director at USAA in San Antonio, Texas, and an academic researcher focused on family finances. "They've got a really good view of what was happening with the client before they passed," he says, adding that the advisor may also have worked with the spouse or children.

Working with an advisor the deceased has had a long-standing relationship with can be especially helpful since there are so many moving parts to navigate after a loved one dies. "There's such a maze of paths to go down on the income tax, estate tax, and property side," says J. Whitfield Wilks, managing director at Novare Capital Management in Charlotte, N.C. "It's a constant list of surprises. Even if you planned it out so well, there are always things that come up."

It's especially hard to do this amid heightened emotions when you're "processing the loss of your husband or your dad," he says "It's a lot."

Prepare a checklist. Many people don't understand how long it's going to take to settle an estate. It's often at least a year, and sometimes longer, depending on how much administration is involved and also family dynamics, says Nilsson of Brava Financial. That's why it's important to set expectations and provide a roadmap, which can be done via a spreadsheet or to-do checklist. "It's very much a collaboration."

Wilks developed a checklist to guide clients through what to expect and what to do when a loved one dies. This includes obtaining paperwork to prove their authority to administer the estate, alerting the Social Security administration, and informing credit card companies and other official entities.

Ask for help when you need it. Wilks recently booked a flight to visit with a couple in Florida, and, in the interim, the husband, who was in his 70s, died unexpectedly. The advisor had been working with the couple for more than two decades, and they had planned well, including a revocable living trust, so they didn't have significant assets in probate.

But there's still a lot of administrative work, which is where Wilks came in. For example, he reached out on the family's behalf to the custodian and CPA to handle the necessary income tax reporting paperwork, taking those details off the family's shoulders. He also helped explain the next steps for the continuing management and transition of the family business.

USAA has a dedicated survivor-relations team, members who are trained to help with the logistics of the estate settlement process. The team helps clients determine what documents are needed, such as financial statements and a death certificate, how to request and access these documents, and file life insurance claims. The team also walks clients through available veterans' resources, if applicable. It's about holding clients' hands and walking them through the process, which can be confusing and overwhelming, Van Cleve says.

Clear out belongings. Beyond attorneys and financial professionals, heirs often need referrals to real estate agents, valuation professionals, and the like. Sometimes clients have no idea how valuable their collections are, Wilks says. "You don't want to do this yourself because you could have a $15,000 baseball card that you think is worth $100 and you give it to the kid down the street."

Bob Lang, brand president of Blue Moon Estate Sales in Troy, Mich., partners with financial advisors and other professionals to help families respectfully clear out their loved one's belongings. The company organizes the process so the families -- many of whom are out of state or busy with other things -- don't have to do it themselves.

Working with a professional can help families dispose of belongings relatively quickly, generally within two to three weeks, Lang says. Blue Moon also helps with event planning, value and pricing research, and organization and staging of the home to sell the belongings, in consultation with the family. Look for such services that are local to where the deceased lived. Personal recommendations are great, but you can also do an internet search for "estate sales" in the particular location, being sure to check references and with ratings companies such as the Better Business Bureau.

To lessen the burden on heirs, advisors should encourage their clients to decide in advance what they really want to keep -- and purge what they don't, Lang says. This helps avoid leaving loose ends for your closest friend or family member to cope with. "Think about these things before it becomes a crisis."

Write to advisor.editors@barrons.com

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May 07, 2026 15:17 ET (19:17 GMT)

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