Situation:
A man age 59 is unexpectedly diagnosed with terminal cancer. The news comes as quite a shock and there is great concern for his wife. During their 36 years of marriage, the husband handled all of the couple’s finances.
Solution:
THOR can sit down with the couple to discuss their options. In the course of this meeting, THOR may discover that many of the couple’s assets, including their primary home and their vacation home, were titled in the husband’s name alone. If the assets remain titled this way, the assets would pass through probate court upon the husband’s death. This would add significant time and cost to the probate process. Furthermore, if the couple owned real estate in both Ohio and Florida, the re-titling of assets would take on even greater importance. Generally, a probate estate must be opened in every state where a decedent owns real estate. In this case, that would have meant both Ohio and Florida if the assets remained titled in the husband’s name alone. THOR can assist the couple in re-titling all of their assets so that the assets would pass directly to the wife upon the husband’s death, thus saving her significant time and expense. As the husband handled the couple’s finances during their marriage, the wife is justifiably concerned about her ability to maintain her standard of living. We can assist her in creating a financial plan that shows her that she would have sufficient assets to maintain her lifestyle once her husband was gone. We can also help her create and follow a budget to ensure that her financial security would not be jeopardized during her life.