After a spouse dies and the family gets through the funeral, the immediate concern is to square away the couple’s assets and make sure the surviving spouse has enough to live on. After that, there is one more step to take: protecting yourself.
One area where you need to be proactive is to consider who will be able to assist you with financial and health matters if you become ill or incapacitated. Before, you and your spouse relied on each other to serve in these roles. Now you need to legally appoint someone to be able to step in and help you. At this point, you definitely need to execute a Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy. And many people like to add a child to their bank account so she can easily help with paying bills. See my blog post on how to do this appropriately (don’t add her as a joint owner!).
If you go to see your elder law attorney after your spouse has passed away, in addition to helping you transfer your spouse’s assets to your name, she will also help you put in place these fundamental documents that will serve to protect you, should you ever become unable to handle your affairs or medical decisions yourself.