My FIL passed away mid-March and he was already several months behind on his mortgage. Our county courts are still closed to non-criminal cases because of COVID-19 so we are unable to get the letter from the court stating my husband is the executor. Therefore, we are unable to access the money in his bank account. So far, weâve spent over $8,000 on cremation, probate attorney, and household expenses ourselves. We will owe over $4,000 in federal taxes for my FIL and hopefully weâll have access to his bank account before the July tax deadline.
We learned that we need to set up a joint account for us and our daughters so when we die they will have access to money for our expenses right away. You never know what might hold up a probate case and delay access to necessary funds.
MSNDIS - Thank you so much for this message. We have a joint account with my Dad, my sister and myself. My S wants me to spend it down to close to zero, but I feel more comfortable with about $20,000 in it at least. Maybe this is for the parents caring for parents thread, but I see from your message that this is a good practice for my H and me, too.
I never had a number in mind, but I think $15,000 to $20,000 is reasonable.
I have one bank account with such a situation in mind. It is solely in my name, and is set up as a TOD to ds. I originally did this when he was in college and funded it with a quarterâs worth of tuition, fees, room & board so there would be no interruption of that in case something happened to dh and me at the same time. Itâs still there, and could certainly be used for covering the types of costs you are discussing.
Re #16843, @MSNDIS - have you been able to get a death certificate? Just a thought that if those are held up, even the TOD wonât help. A joint account would.
@TdoesCollege - oh, that is true.
I was just thinking the same thing. during ânormalâ times, it takes ~6 weeks to obtain an official death cert in CAâŠwho knows how long it is taking now. Obviously, every state is different, but worth checking into.
In terms of the account balance, I would consider costs in your local area and what other expenses you may need to pay out of that account, if your father should pass. I had a joint account with my mother which I ended up using to pay her funeral costs, luncheon after the funeral, property taxes, payroll to the home aides I had employed to work 24 hours/day prior to what became her final days, and income & related taxes (FICA, state, etc) on the aides. Also used funds to pay lawyer for probate process and to pay expenses related to keeping the house running until we could sell it. These expenses added up quickly, but will vary by location.
My siblings and I ended up adding additional funds to the joint account, and then transferring the balance to the estate account, so that is an option also, as long as everyone had funds and is on good terms!
One issue that can come up in a joint account is once anyone on the account dies, in some jurisdictions the account is closed and funds frozen. For such places, itâs safer to have a separate account that is available and wonât be frozen just in the name of trusted party/parties to disburse as neededâfuneral, medical, estate, attorney and other fees.
For some folks with lots of liquidity, not an issue but huge problem for folks with low/no liquidity. Keep good records of expenses and proceed.
Our friend who is 72 years old and still working as a professor at an ivy. So he has been paying into SS for over 50 years. He started to collect SS 2 years ago and he said he got only around $3500/month. Itâs odd that he is STILL paying SS tax and getting SS check at the same time. Anyways, the amount seems small considering he has been paying into the system for almost 55 years. I donât know what i expected, though.
I am trying to see what my income level would be not working, but looks like nothing until i am actually 60 and above. Not sure what i was expecting. I am not very good with finance and have never paid attention. Now I am learning about a lot of things.
I talked to my boss about the possibility of me working part time. She kind of brushed it off and said letâs talk about it in my 2021 Goal and Objective, which is 6 months from now. I donât think she took what I said seriously.
The maximum monthly Social Security benefit that an individual can receive per month in 2020 is $3,790 for someone who files at age 70. For someone at full retirement age, the maximum amount is $3,011, and for someone aged 62, the maximum amount is $2,265
^ and heâs probably not counting the Medicare premiums that get deducted from SS>
They calculate SS payment based on 30 years of highest earnings. Working late into the 70s doesnât necessarily increase SS benefits unless those are his highest earning years.
I think it pays to plan for things to be tied up. When my father died, various things were held up. My mother was (and is) alive but was in the hospital with Guillane-Barre syndrome and wasnât in any position to handle details or write checks. Although I already had power of attorney on my parentsâ accounts , it took some time for institutions to accept the POA. As a consequence, I paid some things from my own account. I was later reimbursed by my fatherâs testamentary trust, of which I am a trustee.
"We learned that we need to set up a joint account for us and our daughters so when we die " - Why not just designate them as beneficiaries on all your accounts and assets (as possible)? That will avoid probate.
Yes, the funeral home was able to get the death certificate right away.
Thanks for that suggestion. Iâll still put some money in a joint account for cremation expenses (we had to pay that in full up front) and as soon as my kids can get the death certificate (it only took a week for my FIL) theyâll have access to our accounts.
My mother and my FIL each died in California recently, and In both cases we were able to get death certificates in about a week.
My mother died in CT, but was buried in NY by a NY funeral home. The funeral home handed me the CT death certificates less than 3 days after she died. The funeral home director said people who die in FL can wait weeks for the death certificate.
Yes, for simple estates (eg, all stuff goes to kids), ToD and PoD is the way to go for nearly all. Probate may still be an advantage in a few states like FL, but those are rare. (Probate can be a faster way to clear and close out accounts and claims in Florida.)