
When the person you love dies, you might think the grief is the toughest thing you’ll have to get through.
But all of sudden there’s bills to pay. Hefty funeral costs to cover and a million forms to fill out.
Things that if you’re anything like Robin Bailey, you never had to deal with.
When Robin’s husband Tony died by suicide, not only was she left reeling from the shock and sorrow, but she was suddenly thrust into a financial crisis that she had no idea how to handle.
Listen: Robin tells her story on the latest episode of The Well podcast.
Robin poses a question to all the women listening to the show: “Do you know your financial situation? Are you aware of where your money goes? If you’re not paying the bills, do you know pass codes? Do you know where the accounts are?”
She didn’t. Tony died interstate, without a will, and she had to learn everything the really hard, horrible way.
“After Tony died… Until the police have come, often your accounts can be frozen. You have no access to money particularly if you’ve got joint accounts and you don’t have a single account,” the radio host says.
“I didn’t know pass codes. I didn’t know how to even access our banking… It’s appalling!”
And don’t think that death gives you a free pass, no one else is going to take care of things for you.