Protecting Recently Deceased Family Members From Financial Crime

You might think that money is the last thing you would want to think about immediately after a family member dies, but the stress of planning a funeral is enough to make you look forward to probate.  Unfortunately, there are other administrative matters you must take care of before bringing the decedent’s will to the probate court and filing a petition to open the estate for probate.  If you were a caregiver for an elderly relative when he or she was in poor health, you are used to the constant vigilance it requires to protect an elderly and vulnerable person.  You might not expect, though, that recently deceased people are also easy prey for identity theft and other financial crimes.  For help protecting the property of a recently deceased family member from crime before and during probate, contact an Orlando probate lawyer.

Keep Tight Control of Your Deceased Family Member’s Devices and Digital Estate

We are far enough into the digital age that estate planning lawyers advise clients about how to account for their digital estates in their wills.  Today’s seniors are writing provisions in their wills about who inherits their Apple Music collection and whether to keep the decedent’s blog online and to add new content to it.  If the decedent did not leave instructions, in a will or elsewhere, about what you should do with his or her digital estate, it is your choice, and you should ask an estate planning lawyer for help.  At minimum, you should keep the list of the decedent’s passwords and the decedent’s devices out of reach of paid caregivers and anyone else who might compromise them.

Protect the Deceased Person’s Empty House From Burglary

If the decedent lived at home until his or her death, then you must also deal with an empty house.  You or other family members should visit the house frequently and install an alarm system, if the house does not already have one.  You should continue doing this until you sell the house during probate or until the heir listed in the will inherits it.

Notify Social Security of the Decedent’s Death to Prevent Identity Theft

The coroner will eventually notify Social Security that the decedent has died, but they do not feel the same urgency about it as you do.  You should be the one to contact Social Security as soon as the person dies.  Social Security will ask you for all of the decedent’s identifying details, which you probably know if you are a close relative of the decedent.  If you do this, no one will be able to open accounts in the decedent’s name and run up debts before the estate goes to probate.

Contact Gierach and Gierach About Tying Up Loose Ends Before Probate

A probate lawyer can help you protect the estate of a recently deceased family member from identity theft and other financial crimes.  Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

msn.com/en-us/news/technology/5-non-obvious-things-you-must-do-quickly-when-a-loved-one-dies/ar-AA1u0QFu?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=8bf20181f7694c2ebf9398a24fefdba8&ei=19