Death of a Loved One

Grief keeps its own time. The paperwork keeps a calendar, and it does not have to be carried alone.

The death of a partner or family member. Grief and administration arrive together, and only the administration has deadlines.

How we work

What changes

Some things after a death have dates, and many do not. Knowing which is which comes first.

What has a deadline

When an estate is large enough to require one, an estate tax return, Form 706, is due nine months after the death, with an extension available. For a married couple, filing one can also pass the unused part of the estate tax exemption to the surviving spouse, the portability election, even when no tax is owed.

What changes for the household

Income may change, accounts and titles move to new names, and the survivor needs a plan of their own. Under §1014, most assets take a new cost basis at their value on the date of death, which changes what selling them later would cost. Retirement accounts and annuities are the main exception: they take no new basis, and pre-tax balances are taxed as income when they are withdrawn.

What the family is told

Heirs who understand the plan are less likely to dispute it. The plan is explained to the family, in plain terms, when they are ready to hear it.

What it strains, what it draws on

A death tends to draw down energy, confidence and the reserves a family relies on, and it can draw the people around you closer.

Death of aLoved OneStrainsVitalitySelf-EfficacyOptimismResilienceFinancial SecurityDraws onCapabilitySocial NetworkCommunity ConnectionNovelty

Strains: the parts of a life this Transition tends to draw down. Draws on: the parts it can strengthen, and that help carry it. Both come from the Human Wealth ontology.

How the ontology maps Transitions

Who works on it

The work is shared across these Services, alongside the estate’s attorney and accountant. Your counsel stays; we keep the plan in one piece, and the dates in view.

Common questions

Very little in the first weeks: securing the accounts, finding the will and the documents, and making sure the household has what it needs to live on. The deadlines that matter come months later, and we keep track of them.

Start with a conversation.

You do not need a balance sheet or a date. Tell us what is changing, and we will tell you plainly whether we are the right office for it.

All transitions