It can be heartbreaking when one of your clients dies and leaves a grieving spouse behind. During this sad and often tumultuous time, it’s hard for some surviving spouses to know how to move forward amidst their grief.
As you know, after a spouse dies, there are many tasks that have to be tended to. Luckily, they have you as an advisor who can point them in the right direction with resources and help.
Aside of having to plan for the funeral and burial, surviving spouses need to deal with all the paperwork that has to be processed when their spouse dies. Often, surviving spouses can’t handle all of these tasks alone because they’re so overwhelmed with their grief and may have never done them before. They need help — whether it be from family, friends or professionals.
How to Help Them
If a client is having a hard time, especially handling a spouse’s passing, it might be you who encourages that individual to seek out a bereavement (grief) support group. This type of counseling can significantly help grieving spouses manage their feelings, so they are more focused and engaged in this new chapter of life.
But what if the surviving spouse has never even paid a bill or cooked a meal? Many older couples take on traditional roles — with the wife handling the cooking and cleaning and the husband handling the bills. Maybe that individual has no idea where to start with this added responsibility and it is simply too much to handle.
Add to that scenario that person may not have any nearby family or friends they can count on and they feel absolutely lost. You might be the only one to direct him or her to further resources to get the help they need.
How We Can Help You
As an answer, Life Mangers & Associates (LMA) can step in like a trusted friend or family member to take over the paperwork. LMA can also organize and pay the bills as well as work closely with the family accountant.
For those surviving spouses who aren’t comfortable cooking or cleaning, LMA can help there as well by arranging for meals to be delivered to the home and/or getting groceries delivered. What’s more, LMA can arrange for housecleaners to come in on a regular or semi-regular basis.
Other ways LMA can assist the grieving spouse is by helping go through and donate the deceased’s belongings, organizing all aspects of the home as well as calling in and overseeing other home contractors.
The bottom line is Life Managers & Associates can be there to help take the burden off the grieving spouse and handle all the home administrative tasks during this challenging time. As a result of the help with bill paying, grocery and meal delivery as well as home organization, the surviving spouse can feel more in control and prepared to stay living independently — on their own at home.
Life Managers & Associates supports older individuals as a surrogate family member with the administrative and organizational responsibilities required to age in place. As a trusted member of their team, we help families feel safe and supported – alleviating stress for all.