The Indian American

14 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2018 - Cancel driver's license: To prevent identity theft, contact the department of motor vehicles and get the deceased’s name removed from the records. You may need to provide the death certificate. - Cancel email and Website accounts: It's a good idea to close social media and other online accounts to avoid fraud or identity theft. The procedures for each website will vary. For instance, Google Mail (Gmail) will ask you to provide a death certificate, a photocopy of your driver's license and any other detailed information. - Notify the post office: Inform your local post office and use the forward mail option. Cancel memberships in organizations: Reach out to all organizations that the deceased belonged to and cancel mem- bership status. - Contact a tax preparer: A tax return need to be filed for the individual, as well as for an estate return. Keep monthly bank statements on all indi- vidual and joint accounts that show the account balance on the day of death. You have nine months from the date of your spouse's death to file a federal estate-tax return. (Some States have earlier deadlines for filing tax returns for state estate and inheritance taxes). - Notify the election board: Immediately notify the election board about the death. (According to a 2012 Pew Center report, almost 2 million people on voter registration rolls are dead.) - Retirement Accounts: If your spouse had a 401(k), it makes the most sense to roll the account into an IRA -- assuming you get the go-ahead from your estate lawyer. If your spouse still had accounts from former employers, consolidate them into one IRA. The custodial firm that holds your IRA can help with the paperwork. - Prepare the estate: Until you meet with your estate lawyer, hold off on placing your spouse's assets in your own name. If you touch those assets in your spouse's name, you'll lose any opportunity to "disclaim" the property - - that is, allowing those assets to go directly to your children or other heirs. If you forgo these assets, they will not count against your federal or state estate-tax exemption when you pass away. You need to save all receipts related to the estate, especially if the estate's value is close to or exceeds the estate-tax exemption. The funeral and post-funeral expenses are legitimate expenses for tax-deduction. - Delegation of your decisions: Assuming you had named your spouse to make financial and health-care deci- sions on your behalf in the event you become incapacitated, you need to des- ignate a new agent for your financial power of attorney, health-care power of attorney and health-care directive. Collect needed documents It would be great if the deceased left • behind needed documents, if not dig through the piles and extract the information like… Passwords to access computer file.s • Banking, bills, credit-card state- • ments, taxes, life insurance policies and estate documents, Social Security numbers, birth and mar-