{"id":141812,"date":"2012-08-10T04:00:52","date_gmt":"2012-08-10T11:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/?p=141812"},"modified":"2020-12-12T19:06:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T03:06:16","slug":"keeping-your-head-during-estate-settelement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/keeping-your-head-during-estate-settelement\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Your Head During Estate Settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emotions will probably run high during estate settlement. Stopping to think \u2014 and setting goals \u2014 can help you make the most of any inheritance. Here’s the main problem with doing a “regular” series of pieces about estate settlement: Nothing is regular.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You have fits of activity \u2014 documents sent by registered mail, conference calls \u2014 and long slogs of waiting.<\/p>\n

We’re in that state now. We’ve read the will<\/a>. We’ve started to receive documents describing the assets in Dad’s will and trust. We’ve also started receiving regularly updated time lines of milestones and deadlines.<\/p>\n

Two years … and counting<\/strong><\/em>
\nThe timeline goes into summer 2014, over two years after my father’s death. Right now we’re in the creditor period \u2014 90 days when individuals and businesses can come forth to settle any debt my father had with them. (State requirements vary; rules about how to notify creditors in Florida<\/a> are spelled out on a government website.)<\/p>\n

We have a good idea of my dad’s situation at the end of his life, and it’s unlikely that an unexpected creditor will appear. Still, his health problems in his final years are a possible source; medical treatments at the end of his life were substantial.<\/p>\n

So, for now, everything in the asset documents is hypothetical.<\/p>\n

Be wary of making decisions with emotion<\/strong><\/em>
\nStill, I have a pretty good idea of the types of assets we’re talking about, and, barring any surprises, what type of inheritance my siblings and I will receive.<\/p>\n

And here is where an alarm sounds \u2014 an alarm grown from years of reading personal finance books such as The Bogleheads Guide to Investing<\/a><\/em> and listening to Dave Ramsey preach in his podcasts.<\/p>\n

As a single mom with a moderate-paying job, I can say the last few years of day-care costs and health-insurance premiums have wrung me out. I live by a monthly written budget, and I can afford our life \u2014 and save for key goals \u2014 but I have almost no wiggle room. I use online calculators to figure out how much I will need to save for college<\/a> for my son, and then I look at the balance in his fund, and my stomach turns over. I’ve saved extra for retirement since age 22, but my emergency fund takes a beating every time the car or house needs a repair.<\/p>\n

This inheritance, while not changing my life completely, can certainly enhance it. The question is, how?<\/p>\n

Take advantage of the wait<\/strong><\/em>
\nSo here is where all those articles and books you’re probably reading, too, become very, very relevant. When something like this happens \u2014 when you’re emotionally compromised and potentially facing a windfall \u2014 it’s critical to do two things:<\/p>\n