How to prepare for the death of a husband?

I have POA for my husband with dementia. I have encountered several problems....our telephone company that we have had for 57 years would not let me arrange for repairs as the account is in his name. I sent them a form they forwarded to me along with my POA and cancelled the account....getting along fine with my cell phone. Had the same problem with our television cable account so I sent a copy of my POA to everyone we have an account with....except realized our auto insurance still listed him and he has not driven or had a license for quite a while.....so did same with them and got things in my name. Keep wondering what else will pop up, so watch out.

Make sure you are all Se on your End, Dealing with Hubby's death and your Own at Home Finances. I am so very Sorry, dear.

Talk with all your insurances ASAP - health, auto, home. If you are a policy OWNER you have full authority to make changes. If you are an "insured" you are not necessarily a joint policy owner. As joint spouse/owner the policy should pass to you, make sure you report the death as soon as you receive those death certificates!

Claims filed later can be rejected on the basis that you did not report this change/event. I was told if I want to continue payments, I can continue the policy if they receive the death certificate.

I filed a claim several years ago. I requested the check be made payable to me. We were both policy owners. I was told the insurance still must issue the check payable to both of us. If my husband was the sole policy "owner", the check would have been issued in his name only. He was in the hospital so I could not have paid the bill until he got home!

If we did not have the joint checking account at the time, this would have been a royal headache.

I would ask all 3 insurances where to send a death certificate when a spouse/policy owner dies. This will be one more set of information/addresses you will not have to pursue after his death.

Julia : I am so sorry you are taking this journey now. Please know that you are in my heart and my thoughts right now. Take care of yourself.

I am so sorry that you are dealing with this while losing your husband. You are wise to be thinking ahead.

You have received lots of practical advice. I hope everything goes smoothly as it can for you. God bless you and your husband.

Although this probably wouldn't apply to Julia Rose as, per her profile, they're living in LA, it's something that others may wish to consider:   winterizing the house, especially if it's vacant.

I used to do that for my parents when they were Winter Texans, i.e., clean the frig and freezer, unplug them, turn the water off, etc.    But now I need to go to Dad's regularly to clean out, so I need to leave the water on, although I could turn it on and off and drain the pipes every time I go out there.  

Last year I added insulated covers to the exterior faucets, and learned about frost-free sillcocks.   Of course I forgot about all that until now, when cold weather is an issue again.    Another chore to add to the handyman or plumber's list.  

And I noticed that someone, I suspect the lawn mowing company, either removed or sliced off the cap to the exterior sewer cleanout.    I don't know if the water in the base of the line would freeze, but I can't imagine dealing with that kind of catastrophe, so I opted to find a cap to replace the line.

I was fortunate in that a Lowe's helper found exactly what I needed.  Then, checking out the exterior of the house, I found what I think might be a vent stack, not at the top of the house but in a window well.   If it's a vent, it shouldn't be capped, but is it a vent?  I have no idea.  Only Dad knows, or perhaps one of the other men in the neighborhood.  

I'll get my handyman to guide me, but in the meantime I suppose I'll worry about it freezing over.

These house maintenance issues might not be at the top of post-death issues, but they can be critical, especially if a house is vacant and the water isn't turned off during intense winter weather.

I lost my husband at age 50, he went into a coma and never came out of it.  Prepare now check all insurance policies. If you have a vehicle make sure it has both names on it, as well as home. Be sure bank accounts have both names so you can have full access to that. Grieve then live life my son and grandchildren were my saving grace as they needed me to move on I had been there for many  years for my husband and there was nothing else I could of done or changed. Sometimes we blame ourselves for all the what ifs and why me. But life is funny like that we don't always know all the answers. Believe me it does get better its all up to you.

Some things that helped me when my husband died were:
- If he is able, have him write or record how he would like to be remembered. My husband was a writer and made notes on what he’d like in his obituary. Although I edited the notes so they would flow, I found having his thoughts made it much easier than starting from scratch.
- Organizing our financial documents. Just having a list of the accounts and assets kept me on track. Also (as others have mentioned) if you make sure that you are designated as the beneficiary on his accounts will make your life a lot less stressful after his passing.
- Reaching out to others who are at a loss too. I found that I tended to go off alone to grieve, but our daughter, my husband’s mom and our little dog were in pain also. I wish I’d been more sensitive.