Planning for the Death of a Family Member: Checklist for When It Matters Most

The families who navigate a loss with the least financial stress and confusion are almost always the ones who thought through some of this before it happened, and the ones who had a trusted advisor to call when it did.

This blog covers two conversations: preparing your own affairs so your family is not left scrambling, and knowing what to do when you are in the middle of a loss right now.

Preparing your own affairs

The most important thing you can do for your family is make sure the right documents exist, stay current, and can be found. More families than you would expect discover after a loss that a will is outdated, a beneficiary designation was never updated after a divorce, or key account information is simply unknown.

• Will and/or trust. A current, properly executed will directs where your assets go. A trust can transfer assets outside probate, maintain privacy, and provide control over timing and conditions of distribution. A will written more than five years ago, or before any major life change, needs review.

• Beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and some bank accounts transfer by beneficiary designation, not by your will. An outdated designation overrides your stated wishes entirely. Review these separately, on a schedule.

• Durable power of attorney. This document designates someone to make financial decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated but not deceased. Without it, your family may need to pursue court-ordered guardianship, a costly and slow process.

• Healthcare directive and healthcare power of attorney. These communicate your wishes for medical care and designate someone to make healthcare decisions when you cannot.

• A letter of instruction. Not a legal document, but among the most practically useful things you can leave behind. Tell your family where to find your will, your accounts, your insurance policies, your login credentials, your safe deposit box, your financial advisor, your attorney, and your accountant. In grief, having this information in one place matters enormously.

• Life insurance review. Coverage in place, amount appropriate, beneficiaries correct, policy properly structured within the estate plan.

When you have just lost a family member

The immediate aftermath of a loss is not the time for major financial decisions. It is the time for logistics, for grieving, and for getting the right people on the phone.

First days:

• Obtain multiple certified copies of the death certificate, typically ten or more.

• Notify immediate family and close friends.

• Contact the deceased's employer to address final payroll, benefits continuation, and any pension or life insurance claims.

• Secure property, vehicles, and valuables.

First two weeks:

• Contact the Social Security Administration to report the death and ask about survivor benefits.

• Reach out to the deceased's financial advisor, attorney, and accountant.

• Locate estate documents, will, trust, insurance policies, account statements.

• Notify life insurance companies and begin the claims process.

• Contact the bank to understand account access, particularly for accounts held in the deceased's name alone.

• If the deceased was on Medicare, notify Medicare and any supplemental plan carriers.

First month:

• File for probate if required.

• Transfer or retitle assets as directed by the will, trust, and beneficiary designations.

• Review joint accounts and update ownership.

• Address ongoing bills, subscriptions, and automatic payments in the deceased's name.

• Review the surviving spouse's own financial plan; income, Social Security, Medicare, insurance coverage, and investment allocation may all need to change.

• Meet with the estate attorney to begin administration.

Over the following months:

• File the final income tax return for the deceased.

• File an estate tax return if applicable.

• Distribute assets per the will or trust.

• Update your own beneficiary designations, will, and estate documents to reflect current circumstances.

The surviving spouse

The financial transition for a surviving spouse is one of the most consequential events in personal finance, and one of the most frequently underplanned. Income may change. Social Security benefits may change. Tax filing status changes. Medicare coverage may need to be addressed. A portfolio built for two people may need to be restructured for one.

This is not the time to move fast. Take a breath, find an advisor you trust, and work through the picture without anyone pressuring you into decisions before you are ready.

Ascent Advisors has sat with many families through this process. We are not here to sell something in a moment of vulnerability. We help you understand what you have, what needs to happen next, and what can wait.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Consult your estate attorney, tax professional, and financial advisor regarding your specific situation.

Medicare Changes Every Year. Most People Don't Notice Until It Costs Them.

If there is one constant in Medicare, nothing stays the same for long.

Premiums change. Formularies change. Carrier networks change. Benefit structures change. A plan that served you well last year may quietly become a worse deal this year, and without a review, you will not find out until you are at the pharmacy counter or the specialist's office.

What changes annually — and why it matters

Medicare's annual enrollment period runs October 15 through December 7. During those weeks, beneficiaries can switch Medicare Advantage plans, change their Part D drug plan, or move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Most people let the window close without reviewing anything, which means defaulting into whatever they held the year before.

A lot can change between enrollment periods:

• Premiums. Both Medicare Advantage and Part D premiums reset each year. A plan that was among the most affordable last year may not be this year.

• Drug formularies. The list of covered medications, and what tier they sit on, changes annually. A drug your plan covered at a low copay may move to a higher tier or disappear from the formulary. For anyone taking multiple medications, this can mean hundreds or thousands of dollars of difference over a year.

• Provider networks. Medicare Advantage plans use networks. Doctors and specialists who were in-network last year may not be this year. If you have established relationships with specific providers, verify their network status during every enrollment period.

• Benefit structures. Dental, vision, hearing, and fitness benefits vary by plan and by year. Plans add and remove these regularly.

• IRMAA thresholds. Above certain income levels, Medicare charges a surcharge on top of standard Part B and Part D premiums. These thresholds adjust annually, and a change in income, a Roth conversion, a required minimum distribution, a one-time sale, can push you into a higher bracket without warning.

The IRMAA problem most people discover too late

Medicare uses your tax return from two years ago to determine premium surcharges. If your income in that year exceeded the threshold, you pay more, sometimes far more, for Part B and Part D coverage.

A single financial decision can trigger an IRMAA surcharge that costs thousands of dollars per year in higher Medicare premiums. Because Medicare looks back two years, you may not feel the impact until it is already locked in.

This is why Medicare planning cannot happen separately from the broader financial plan. A decision your financial advisor helps you make today can show up in your Medicare premium two years from now. If those two conversations happen with different people who are not coordinating, you are exposed to surprises that could have been avoided with one conversation.

What good Medicare planning looks like

The annual enrollment period is not the only time Medicare deserves attention. The most important conversations happen earlier:

• Six to twelve months before your 65th birthday: understanding enrollment options, evaluating Medicare Advantage versus Medigap, reviewing current providers and medications, and making a deliberate choice rather than a default one.

• Any year income changes significantly: a Roth conversion, a business sale, a large distribution — warrants a review of IRMAA exposure before the financial decision is finalized.

• Every year during open enrollment: a brief review of your current plan against available alternatives does not take long and can produce meaningful savings.

Ascent Advisors' insurance team, affiliated with American Senior Benefits, includes independent brokers who compare plans across dozens of carriers. Independent means they are not limited to one company's products. They look across the market and identify what fits your situation, not what fits a sales quota.

Because our wealth management and insurance teams work together, we review Medicare as part of your complete financial picture. That coordination is the difference between a surprise Medicare bill and a plan that anticipated it.

This blog is for informational purposes only. Medicare plan availability, costs, and benefits vary by location and change annually. Consult a licensed Medicare professional to evaluate options for your situation. Ascent Advisors' insurance brokers are affiliated with American Senior Benefits, an Integrity Company.

Highly Appreciated Positions Aren't Something to Fear: You Just Need the Right Advice

A scenario we see often: someone holds a stock, a piece of land, or a business interest acquired twenty or thirty years ago. It has grown. On paper, it looks like success. But at some point the success started to feel like a trap. Selling triggers a tax bill. Not selling means too much of the financial picture tied to one position. So nothing happens. The position sits there, growing more concentrated and more complicated every year.

A highly appreciated position is not a problem. It is an asset that needs a strategy.

Why people freeze

The instinct to hold makes sense. Buy a stock at $10, watch it reach $80, and selling triggers a capital gains tax event on $70 of growth. That bill can feel large enough to justify leaving things alone.

Leaving things alone carries its own cost. A portfolio heavily concentrated in a single holding; employer stock, an inherited position, real estate, a business interest, carries risk that diversification would manage. If that position drops, there is no cushion. The tax savings from not selling can disappear in a downturn that a diversified portfolio would have absorbed without the same damage.

The right question is not "how do I avoid paying taxes." It is: what is the most tax-efficient path toward a strategy that matches my actual goals?

The strategies worth knowing

Working with an advisor who connects investment management to tax planning changes this conversation. A few approaches worth evaluating, depending on your situation:

• Tax-loss harvesting. Losses elsewhere in the portfolio can offset gains from selling the appreciated position. This requires monitoring throughout the year, not a single year-end conversation.

• Charitable giving. Donating appreciated securities directly to a charity or donor-advised fund eliminates the capital gains tax while generating a charitable deduction. For anyone already giving, this is one of the most efficient ways to do it.

• Qualified opportunity zone investments. Reinvesting capital gains into a qualified opportunity zone fund within 180 days defers — and can reduce — the tax owed. Worth understanding for the right situation.

• Gifting strategies. Transferring appreciated shares to family members in lower brackets, or to the next generation as part of an estate plan, can shift the tax burden in a way that benefits the family as a whole.

• Systematic partial liquidation. Spreading sales across multiple tax years manages bracket exposure and allows continued participation in the position where appropriate.

• Exchange funds. Eligible investors can contribute appreciated shares to a fund in exchange for a diversified interest, deferring the gain while reducing concentration.

The broader point

None of these is automatically right. The correct path depends on income, tax situation, estate goals, timeline, and what the proceeds need to accomplish. The most important first step is not picking a strategy, it is a comprehensive conversation that connects the investment decision to the tax plan to the estate plan to the income plan.

Ascent Advisors works with a Van Eck-affiliated investment framework and an in-house CFA who evaluates concentrated positions within the client's full financial picture. As fiduciaries, our only obligation is to recommend what is right for the client.

Clients who handle concentrated positions well are the ones who had the conversation before the decision felt urgent.

Ascent Advisors is an SEC-registered investment advisor. This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute personalized tax or investment advice. Consult with your advisor and tax professional before acting on any strategy described here.