Legal things to do if your spouse passes away
Attorney Tom Olsen: People want to know what happens when one of them passes away. I guess maybe a lot of people aren't familiar that as far as death certificates are concerned, the crematory or the funeral home, they're the one that actually order death certificates for you.
Attorney Holley Knapik: They do. Typically, they'll order two types. There's your death certificate, which has cause of death, and then the one that has no cause of death, sometimes referred to as sanitized and unsanitized.
Attorney Tom Olsen: I refer to them as short-form and long-form. Actually, when you order death certificate, you need both types because if we're going to do a probate for somebody, we need the short-form, no cause of death. When it comes to filing an insurance claim for life insurance, you need one with the cause of death.
Attorney Holley Knapik: Absolutely.
Attorney Tom Olsen: The other thing is I've been surprised over the years that how many people will call me and say, "Tom, my mom has passed away. I've Googled it, and I see the law says that I must put her will on deposit within 10 days. Is that true?”
Attorney Holley Knapik: Yes, that is a popular question.
Attorney Tom Olsen: It actually is true. The law says that when somebody passes away, whoever has possession of their original will is required to put it on deposit with the probate court within 10 days of the date of death, but realistically, if you're late on that, nobody's going to care.
Attorney Holley Knapik: You're absolutely right.
Attorney Tom Olsen: Then, when parents pass away, mom and dad are both alive and one of them passes away, usually their home is in both names. What do they need to do then?
Attorney Holley Knapik: Then what needs to happen is that the death certificate for the deceased spouse needs to be recorded in the county where the property is located and then automatically that information updates to show the surviving spouse is the owner of the property.
Attorney Tom Olsen: That's right. Recording your deceased spouse's death certificate clears the title, puts it in the survivor's name only. By the way, that will also get the survivor an additional widower's exemption, a savings on real estate taxes. There's that little bit of a bonus.
Attorney Holley Knapik: It is.
Attorney Tom Olsen: Also, if you're a surviving spouse, you can get a $255 burial benefit from social security.
Attorney Holley Knapik: You do. A lot of people don't know about that.
Attorney Tom Olsen: I've been a lawyer for 40 years and guess what? 40 years ago, it was still $255.
Attorney Holley Knapik: [chuckles] No increase for inflation.
Attorney Tom Olsen: That doesn't go very far. But those are things that do need to be done. Now, we've got a booklet on-- I forgot. The name of that booklet is?
Attorney Holley Knapik: What to Do When a Loved One Has Passed Away. It's a great booklet because it's almost in the form of a checklist. The font's very big, easy to read, plain language. It's a step one, step two, the steps you can take.
Attorney Tom Olsen: I've forgotten about that booklet. We have all our booklets out in front at the lobby. I went out there the other day and I was getting ready to meet with a client, he pulled that booklet out and he goes, "Hey, Tom, right here. I see that I got a social security burial benefit." It reminded me that we have that booklet and that's in the booklet.
Attorney Holley Knapik: Yes, it's in there. Great information in it. If any listener out there is wondering what the next steps are, we'd be happy to talk to you and send you the booklet. Like I said, it's like a checklist.
Attorney Tom Olsen: What to Do When a Loved One Dies. We also have a booklet on Easy Ways to Avoid Probate, we have a booklet on How to Protect Your Life Savings From Nursing Homes. You can call the Olsen Law Group 24/7 and request those booklets. Even if we're not here, you can leave a voicemail. That phone number, 407-423-5561. That's our main phone number. By the way, you can also text to that main phone line, 407-423-5561, or go to our website, olsenlawgroup.com. On your smartphone is pretty cool because the website is set up that throughout it, whenever you see a phone number, you can call, punch a button, just text it, or call it. Each of the lawyers have their own page, including Attorney Holley Knapik. On your page, Holley, there's three big red buttons. One says, "Call Holley," one is, "Text Holley," and one is, "Email Holley."
Attorney Holley Knapik: You know what? It works really well. I have to say, I do get emails. When you hit the "Call" button, I receive the phone calls. It does work.
Attorney Tom Olsen: I love texting with people, both clients and leads. When you're texting on your phone, I got these big thumbs, like this one letter at a time, okay, all right? I watch my kids do the texting and they're like-
Attorney Holley Knapik: Speed demons. [laughs]
Attorney Tom Olsen: I don't know how they do it. I don't know how. On my smartphone, I've even made the buttons bigger and I can't go fast. But when we're texting from our office phones, we're using our keyboards. Very convenient.
Attorney Holley Knapik: Yes, it makes it easy.
Attorney Tom Olsen: Hey folks, thank you for listening today. We do so much appreciate your great calls and questions. My name is Tom Olsen, the name of the show is Olsen on Law.