Can Your Family Access Money Within 48 Hours?
Before anyone thinks about trusts or documents, end of life financial planning should begin with a single question: If something happened tomorrow, how fast could your family access money?
Most of what people call “assets” can’t be touched easily. Real estate can sit in probate. Retirement accounts may require paperwork, tax withholding, and delays. Life insurance payouts can take weeks—assuming someone knows the policy exists.
Meanwhile, bills won’t wait. In-home care costs can hit $6,000/month. Final arrangements might require $8,000 upfront. Families can be forced to borrow against inheritances they haven’t received, just to keep things moving.
This is why liquidity is the first move.
Here’s where to begin:
- Bank accounts: Ensure there’s a joint owner or “Payable on Death” designation (POD). This bypasses probate.
- Brokerage accounts: Add “Transfer on Death” (TOD) instructions to ensure direct access.
- Life insurance policies: Review beneficiaries, but also evaluate whether your policy could be converted into immediate funds (i.e., via a life settlement). This can create liquidity for in-home care or to offset the drawdown on retirement assets.
- Emergency fund: Consider keeping a dedicated 3–6 months’ worth of liquid cash in a high-yield savings account—accessible, known to the right person, and easy to manage.
Liquidity doesn’t solve everything. But without it, nothing else can move.
Life Insurance Isn’t Always Liquid — But It Can Be
Most people assume their life insurance policy will simply “kick in” when it’s needed. But in reality, many policies are caught in delays or inaccessible altogether:
- Payouts can take 30–60 days, even longer if there’s a dispute or documentation issue.
- Policies with unclear or outdated beneficiaries often trigger administrative hold-ups.
- If no one knows the policy exists, it might not even be claimed.
Here’s what’s often missed: if you no longer need the coverage for dependents — or if you’d benefit more from the money now — your policy may have real value today. Through a viatical or life settlement, it’s possible to sell your policy for a lump sum, often tax-free, depending on your situation.
That money can go toward:
- Covering in-home care or medical expenses
- Paying down debt
- Preserving other long-term investments
This option isn’t right for everyone — but for many, it turns a fixed asset into functional liquidity, without waiting on a payout that comes too late.
Speak with American Life Fund today!
Inheritance Isn’t a Plan — It’s a Process That Costs Money
Most families think they’ve “handled everything” because there’s a will in a drawer. But what they’re really counting on is inheritance working itself out — and it rarely does.
Here’s what gets missed: inheritance isn’t automatic, and it’s not free. Without the right structure in place, it can cost tens of thousands in taxes, court fees, legal delays, and family tension.
Take probate. Even in a straightforward estate, court and legal fees can eat up 3%–7% of total assets — not counting delays that freeze accounts, halt property sales, and block access to funds. In high-cost states like California or New York, probate can last a year or more.
If you’re planning to leave assets to family members or minor children, here’s how to reduce friction and protect value:
Use a Living Trust — Not Just a Will
A will is a directive. A living trust is a mechanism. When assets are placed inside a trust, they can be distributed without court approval, which speeds up access and minimizes costs.
Example: A $500,000 home passed through probate could rack up $20,000–$30,000 in legal costs and delays. The same home, held in a properly structured trust, can transfer to the next generation in weeks with no court fees.
Trusts also let you control how and when assets are accessed — critical if you have dependents, complex family dynamics, or want to avoid lump-sum mistakes.
Review Beneficiaries Across All Accounts
Retirement accounts, insurance policies, and bank accounts each have beneficiary designations that override your will. If you haven’t updated them in 10 years, you could accidentally leave money to an ex-spouse or unintentionally exclude a child.
Smart end of life financial planning includes a sweep of every account to confirm names, percentages, and backup plans.
Simplify Ownership and Clarify Intent
Joint ownership can be useful—but also risky if not clearly documented. For example:
- “Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship” (JTWROS) allows immediate asset transfer, but may come with tax or control consequences.
- “Tenancy in Common” splits ownership but often requires probate.
Work with a financial advisor or estate planner to align ownership structure with your actual intentions—not just convenience.
Consider the Step-Up in Basis
When investments or real estate are passed to heirs, they typically receive a “step-up in basis,” which resets the value for capital gains. But this only applies under certain conditions — and can be lost if assets are given away prematurely or titled incorrectly.
For example, transferring your house to your children today might seem like a protective move — but it could cost them tens of thousands in capital gains if the property is later sold. The same house inherited via trust or will would get stepped-up and reset to fair market value.
The Real Cost of Care — And Why Planning Early Preserves Options
Ask someone what their retirement plan looks like, and they might mention travel, downsizing, or living closer to family. Rarely does anyone bring up the cost of care — until it’s too late to choose how they want to receive it.
But the numbers don’t lie:
- The average cost of in-home care: $5,300/month
- An assisted living facility: $4,800/month
- A private room in a nursing home: over $9,500/month
(Source: Genworth Cost of Care Survey 2024)
And none of this includes medications, home modifications, or out-of-pocket costs tied to end of life care.
These expenses don’t just affect the person receiving care — they can force children or spouses to take on debt, liquidate investments, or pull early from retirement accounts. All of this can be avoided with deliberate financial moves made in advance.
Start by Stress-Testing Your Existing Coverage
- Long term care insurance used to be a go-to solution — but premiums have increased and benefits narrowed.
- Many traditional insurance policies (even those bundled in retirement plans) don’t cover actual care expenses, especially if care happens at home.
- Some life insurance policies now offer riders or early-access features for chronic conditions — but they must be activated proactively and are often misunderstood.
Have your financial advisor review these policies to clarify what’s actually covered — and when.
Or you can talk to American Life Fund and find out how you can make sure your family is fully covered when the time comes.
Avoid Using Retirement Accounts as a First Line of Defense
Pulling from IRAs or 401(k)s to cover care seems logical — until you do the math:
- Withdrawing $60,000 from a traditional IRA could trigger $15,000+ in taxes depending on your bracket.
- You may also reduce the long-term compounding that these accounts rely on, shrinking what’s available for your beneficiaries.
A smarter move? Use more flexible assets — or unlock equity in underused assets (like an unneeded life insurance policy or second property) to preserve your tax-advantaged retirement base.
Set Up a Dedicated Care Fund — Even If It’s Modest
A simple, high-yield savings account titled specifically for future care needs (or even held in trust) gives clarity and control. Think of it as the “go-to fund” so family members aren’t guessing about what’s off-limits.
The goal isn’t to guess the total cost — it’s to create structure so no one has to scramble for a solution mid-crisis.
A Folder Isn’t a Plan — You Need a Working Financial Structure
Most people believe that once they’ve signed a will and named a power of attorney, the job is done. But here’s the reality: the people responsible for managing your affairs won’t need your paperwork — they’ll need your process.
End of life planning has to work in motion — under pressure, with time sensitivity, and real financial consequences.
Organize By Function, Not Just Document Type
A binder of 50 loose pages means nothing in a moment of stress. Instead, group financial materials into functional categories:
- Access & liquidity: Bank accounts, high-yield savings, brokerage accounts, passwords, account numbers.
- Protection & ownership: Trusts, property deeds, insurance policies, legal documents.
- Care & health: Advance directives, care preferences, long term care plans, in-home care instructions.
- Distribution: Beneficiary instructions, retirement accounts, letters of intent, summary of final wishes.
Make sure the right family members or advisors know where this lives — and what it means.
Clarify Roles Before They’re Needed
Having a power of attorney on file is good. Knowing what they’re responsible for is better. The more people you’ve named (executor, financial POA, healthcare proxy), the more room for confusion.
Your financial plan should be accompanied by a plain-language summary that makes one thing clear:
“If X happens, here’s who steps in and what they’re allowed to do.”
This prevents stalling, disagreements, and conflicting decisions at the worst time.
Revisit the Plan After Every Major Life Event
Plans built five years ago won’t account for:
- A second marriage
- A business sale
- A chronic diagnosis
- A grandchild with special needs
Good planning is dynamic, not static. Review the structure annually, or anytime a major life event changes the map.
This is how you move from ‘prepared’ to protected.
The legal documents matter. But the structure around them — clear roles, intentional communication, practical organization — is what lets a plan actually work when it’s needed.
Plans That Stay Private Tend to Fall Apart
You can build the cleanest structure, clarify every role, and document every asset — but if the plan lives in silence, it’s still at risk. Most failures in end of life financial planning don’t come from bad intentions or missing paperwork. They come from a lack of alignment.
Here’s how to prevent that.
Let the Right People In
Don’t over-disclose. But do make sure the individuals you’ve named — your financial power of attorney, your executor, whoever will be handling medical care decisions or overseeing final arrangements — understand their role and the boundaries around it.
You don’t need to share account balances or net worth. You do need to make sure someone knows:
- Where the documents are
- Which accounts require action
- Who to call if something needs to move quickly
This removes ambiguity, which is the biggest cause of delays and internal conflict.
Tie the Plan to a Timeline
Too many families only find out someone “had a plan” after they’re gone. By that point, the financial window for flexibility has closed.
Set a reminder to revisit your estate plan, policy coverage, and beneficiaries every 1–2 years — or after any major life event.
That doesn’t mean rewriting everything. It means confirming that your intentions still match the structure.
Document More Than Just Numbers
Your documents will say who gets what. But they won’t explain why.
Including a simple letter — not legally binding, just human — explaining your choices can resolve more tension than any clause. Whether it’s how you divided assets, why a trust is structured a certain way, or what kind of memorial service you’d want, a few sentences of context can protect more than your finances.
Good financial planning at this stage isn’t about controlling the outcome. It’s about reducing friction, protecting choice, and giving clarity when clarity is hard to come by.
One Last Thought
It’s easy to treat end of life financial planning as a checklist — a way to sort through legal documents, delegate responsibilities, and manage future costs. But for many people, the act of planning becomes something else entirely.
It becomes the moment they take back control — of their time, their values, their priorities. In a world where so much feels unpredictable, putting your financial affairs in order isn’t just a duty. It’s an opportunity to lead by example, to reduce noise for your family, and to define what matters most on your own terms.
If you’re facing a serious diagnosis or managing complex financial obligations tied to care, this process can do more than prepare for the future — it can unlock options now.
Your legally binding documents are only part of the picture. Real planning means aligning your resources with your life — and doing it while the choice is still yours.
If you’re living with a life-threatening illness and wondering whether your life insurance policy could support your financial goals today, American Life Fund offers free estimates of your life policy’s worth. . To explore a viatical settlement, see if you qualify today!
