Death does not excuse tax returns or the payment of taxes.

– From What to do When Someone Dies, a Legal, Financial and Practical Guide.

A living trust will not avoid income taxes, but it will avoid probate.

Probate takes an average of 9-24 months.

Administrative Assistance with Legal, Financial and Estate Matters

After the services have taken place most people want a break from decisions and details to grieve. Unfortunately, the legal, financial and tax concerns are looming, and are the next step in a process that may take a year or more to complete, depending on how thoroughly the deceased planned their estate.

Farewell Assistance can assist you with filling out paperwork, contacting insurance companies, communicating with the social security administration, organizing paperwork and listing assets, for example. Sometimes documents have to be completed within a deadline, and should be prioritized in order of importance. We can help you evaluate the situation, and whether you need to hire an estate planning attorney or an accountant. Attorney and accountant fees can be lower if you have the necessary information organized beforehand.

Farewell Assistance is also available to secure businesses or property for relatives who live at a distance. We can be your personal assistant, so you do not have to travel, or miss work and family responsibilities. From doing little things, like making sure mail is forwarded, newspapers are cancelled, and meeting repairmen, to larger projects like hiring and overseeing an estate sale company, or getting items appraised and listed for sale, Farewell Assistance can give professional, reliable service that is customized.

Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker is sorry.

~ Mark Twain, In Philosophy