Questions tagged [death]

Questions related to end of life situations and how personal finance is involved.

64 questions
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How close is the fate of Berkshire Hathaway tied to Warren Buffett?

We all are humans. Humans are mortal, and so is Warren Buffett. Given that he is an elderly man close to 90, it is quite likely that he will pass away in the next few years. Sad events like these often cause the value of a connected share to…
glglgl
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How can I deal with a legitimate check received that is made out to my deceased wife's name?

My wife passed away on the 17th of November 2022. I just sold her car to Carvana. When I got home I noticed the check was made out to my wife ($4,000). We did not have a joint bank account. I do my banking with Chime. How do I handle this?
Tony Piotrowski
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Where should I put my will so that it can be easily found when the time comes?

This has been puzzling me for a while. What is the best place to keep a last will and testament so that it can easily be found and executed obviously without any help from me? I've seen a lot of people suggest safety deposit boxes, but I've also…
JohnFx
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Who does the money go to if "everyone" in a family dies?

I watched this movie yesterday, and there's a scene in it where they execute an entire Mafia family (parents, siblings, cousins, relatives and whatnot). It made me think of this question. If an entire family dies, who gets to keep all their savings,…
Snow
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What will happen to my wife's debt when she passes away?

I am currently a Washington state resident but my wife is still an Oregon resident. Recently she has had some health issues and has been given a short amount of time left to live. We are trying to figure out what will happen to her student loan and…
Dryden Long
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GE historic stock price on DOD changed

My father owned GE stock and he died in November. In late November, for my appointment with the probate court, I looked up the closing stock price for the day he died. Unfortunately I downloaded the data instead of printing. Now I am working on the…
11
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When someone receiving Social Security dies, does the estate have to give back their last "paycheck"?

When someone receiving Social Security in the US dies, I have heard that there are some cases where the estate must return the last payment made by Social Security. It makes total sense to me that if someone dies on the 25th and gets a Social…
Alex B
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What happens to 401(k) money that isn't used by the time the account holder dies?

What happens to un-withdrawn 401(k) funds upon the death of the account holder? Can they be transferred to an heir? What are the tax implications (if any) of this?
warren
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Co-signing & dying: What if a loan co-signer dies? Is estate of co-signer liable?

A grim and tragic question perhaps, but I'm curious: What happens when a person that co-signed on a loan dies? Is the co-signer's estate potentially liable until the loan is paid off, the same as if the co-signer had borrowed the money themselves? …
Chris W. Rea
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If you receive life insurance, does the estate have any claim to it? Do you have to use it to pay for debts of the estate?

If after someone dies, you receive life insurance as the beneficiary, is the estate entitled to any of that money? Are there cases where the life insurance money can be included in the estate and therefore be required for repayment of debts of the…
Alex B
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Estate liability for co-signer to Sallie Mae student loan?

My son has student loans. I co-signed on three that are currently with Sallie Mae. He stopped paying so I am doing that in order to protect my own credit. What is my estate's liability should I die before the debt is discharged? As a co-signer,…
Ira
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Why would a life insurance exclude suicide for the first two years of policy duration only?

I'm currently reading terms for life insurance with survival benefit and investment. It's like you pay ten thousand USD each year and five years later you get back forty thousand USD (the four payments you made) and maybe some investment income.…
sharptooth
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How long do credit cards keep working after you disappear?

This may be a morbid question, but let's treat it as a thought experiment: how can I keep my website running for posterity after I die? Say I have enough ad revenue from the site to pay for web hosting. This revenue goes to my bank account every…
Dan Dascalescu
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Are funeral plots a good investment?

At the risk of sounding morbid, is it worth looking into cemetery plots/mausoleum storage? Is it correct to assume that these costs will increase over time?
Zephyr
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Can an incomplete 401k hardship withdrawal be reversed due to death?

The situation is that a friend was terminally ill and was struggling financially and so took a hardship withdrawal. His health took a turn for the worse and died before he received the check. Now his wife told the bank he died and requested the…
Mary
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