[USER]

I’m very new at this and have some questions.
My husband died suddenly in August. He earned most of our income by a good bit. We’ve never saved and have credit card debt and loans.

I’m trying to make rapid and smart adjustments to survive going from making $9K a month together to making about $3-4k a month with my job and other temporary benefits.

It’s a Herculean task at this point.

All the loans are in his name and in probate so i can’t sell the extra vehicle or his ATV to reduce monthly expenses.

Just the mortgage, car payments, insurance and the ATV payments total $3k a month alone.

I did a gofundme to help me survive these first few months and got some VA back pay. I have enough to get me through 3-4 more months as a conservative estimate.

I’m slashing spending and costs as fast as I can find them.

I know in everything I’m reading and learning about chooseFI, paying off bad debt and emergency fund are priorities.

I was tempted to pay off the bad debt right now but hesitate since I have very limited cash flow at the moment.

Here’s my questions. I have this money that is to get me through the next few months (around 10k) but I hate to leave it just sitting in checking account not earning any interest over the next 3-4 months if there’s a better option.

*Should I move it into a High Yield Savings Account? Or some where else?

*Since it’s only gonna be there short term, is it even worth moving it?

If I put it somewhere it will need to be easy access for bill paying. I’m trying to pull from it as sparingly as possible and only use if my earnings can’t stretch.

Thanks in advance if you read this far. Feel free to give me any other suggestions or resources if it can help in my situation! I’ll take any and all.

The importance of having a security net and a WILL is way more than clear to me at this point a little too late. Lesson learned in my 40s.

Oh and a mini YAY. I did put $1000 in savings so I have the start of a baby emergency fund.

I’m reading and listening to everything that I can get my hands on.

[Carry]

I would check to see if any of his loans have loan forgiveness in the case of death. Our house loan has this.

[Alisa]

I’m so sorry for your loss. My husband died 6 years ago so I can understand the situation you are in.

Do not pay off any of the debt that is in his name alone, especially not credit card debt or student loans which are forgiven when the borrower dies.

[Daisy]

Sorry for your loss.
I would transfer the 10k into a HYSA.

Also check with your husbands employer to see if they offered life insurance payout.

Some companies may provide 10k, 1x 2x salary.

If you guys have kids, I believe children under age 18 qualify for some type of SSI.

[Jenny]

I’m so sorry for your loss.
Unless things have changed in the years since my mother passed away, you legally are not liable for debt that is only in your husband‘s name.

Sometimes credit card companies will try to convince you otherwise, but they know better.

After my mother passed away, they went after me because I was made an authorized user on one of her cards as a teen.

I just had to contact a lawyer and get them to write one letter to make it all go away.

[Christine]

Your priority is your 4 walls. Shelter, food, utilities and a means to get to work. Anything else can wait.

Give yourself some grace – you are probably still grieving and may not have fully processed what is happening.

Work out what you can afford to pay at the moment after your essentials are taken care of.

Have you spoken to any of the companies and asked if the debts can be written off, collections on hold etc to give you time to work out a longer term plan?

[Melissa]

Put the funds in a HYSA at least while you figure out how to spend them. At least then you’re earning something over nothing.

It might be only a few hundred earned over the course of months, but that is better than no gain.

I would personally do it since the funds will still be accessible and able to be pulled easily.

[Diznee]

So sorry for your loss. It is so much to deal with on top of the grief!

Do you follow the Money Guys by any chance? The have a “financial order of operations” list that may help you with planning.

ASK friends and family for some help calling to see if any loans are forgiven on his death.

Keep a notebook of who called where and who they spoke with.

Try and really figure out your living expenses (minus things you can liquidate after probate like the car and ATV) so you have a sense of what your income will cover.

Let friends and family help with some meals, light housework, etc so you can catch your breath!

Work with an attorney on probate unless the estate is very simple.

[Amber]

An HYSA with $10k in it will earn $40/month or less. Depends if that is worth the hassle for you, but probably not.

I wouldn’t pay off any debts right now – just focus on surviving and then getting rid of any expenses you can as quickly as you can.

Did your husband have any life insurance?

Have you already begun the process of applying for SS survivor benefits?

[Brad]

Sorry for your loss. You have the basics. Increase income and decrease spending. Tread water until you can get probate settled.

Then sell assets you don’t need or can’t afford.

[Joel]

Yes, high yield savings. I use Ally and really like it. I’m not sure but you may not be responsible for the loans in his name…

[Laura]

For they HYSA, check with the bank where you have your checking account and see if you can open one there. Even if it earns slightly less interest than elsewhere, it will likely be able to transfer to your checking account instantly.

I have a primary bank where I have a HYSA and checking account that hold about 2 months of expenses.

Then I have a separate account with my emergency fund that I move around to different banks, wherever offers the highest interest at the time. The latter is not important for you right now.

You can think about that in a year or two. Right now focus on making things easy for yourself.

I’m so sorry for your loss and that you have to manage all of this while grieving.

[Arlene]

Any chance you can rent out a room ? I know you would want to be careful about who you let into your house but if there is someone trustworthy, that may be an option.

Or maybe you can provide afterschool care for 1-2 kids who go to your child’s school?

I’m just thinking of some ways you can make a bit more money now, until your long term plans are more ironed out.

[Jennifer]

I’m sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, just a will would not have been enough. TOD on vehicles, if your state has that, is what is needed.

Then you could transfer to your name and sell.

I’d put the money in a HYSA until it’s needed, see if he had life insurance through work.. coccyx SSA about survivor benefits.

And check if any of those loans die with him. Your lawyer should have insight on which ones might.

If not, I like the suggestion to have family help with those calls.

[Christopher]

$10k in a HYSA will earn you about a dollar a day in interest. It’s not a huge amount, but it’s definitely better than nothing; I park surplus cash in HYSA or money market funds even if it’s just for a few days for the interest.

It may be worth calling the lenders for the various loans to explain the situation.

You may be able to negotiate lower payments or deferred interest or something.

I’m not sure of the details for how they works with stuff in probate though, or if there’s a downside to contacting them in that’s circumstances though.

[Megan]

Talk to both a CPA and likely an estate lawyer. There may be bills that aren’t yours to pay so don’t pay off debt, especially if it’s only in his name.

Keep all your future income in accounts with your name only.

Good luck!!

[India]

I’m so sorry for your loss. I would move funds to a high yield savings account so you can earn higher interest.

You can transfer cash to your checking account from there as needed for any ongoing expenses.

[Tim]

I keep cash in my Schwab brokerage account in SWVXX money market which yields about 4.6% currently.

If/when you need the cash you can sell the amount you need and it is available to transfer by the next day so 2-3 days typically from when you sell until it’s transfered in a checking account.

[Jane]

Check with his employer to find out if he had employer sponsored life insurance or any kind of retirement acct with them.

[Snow]

My significant other of over a decade was a lawyer in the Midwest, laws are different everywhere. However I remember hearing about filing for a hardship ‘allowance’ that can expedite probate.

Another option is talking with the judge/trustees over the proceedings and ask for removal of the debt burden on the estate.

It can be important if there are payments due on items in probate, the court can order pause on payments without negative effects and/or sell off property if no one in the probate process objects to reduce the debt burden and later distribute the funds.

Always seek a lawyers council about these things, but please look into it!

As for high yield savings, fidelity’s Bloom is a free checking/savings that will get you 4.7% interest monthly without any holds on your money.

(I use this account for my slush fund, and savings for insurances, taxes, auto and most of my quarterly/bi-annual and yearly bills.

[Author]

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