Grief and paperwork arrive together. Inherited IRAs have distribution deadlines, inherited property has basis questions, and everyone around you suddenly has an opinion about the money. Almost nothing actually has to be decided this week — but a few things genuinely do.
The most expensive inheritance mistakes come from moving too fast on the wrong things — and too slow on the few items with real clocks attached.
Most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty an inherited IRA within ten years — and the timing of those withdrawals across your own income years is a genuine tax-planning decision, not an afterthought.
Inherited taxable assets generally receive a stepped-up cost basis. That can make repositioning far cheaper than people assume — and makes 'never sell what Dad bought' a sentiment worth examining, gently, with numbers.
Before strategy: retitle accounts correctly, claim what needs claiming, and update your own beneficiaries — the quiet housekeeping that prevents expensive problems years later.
An inheritance carries the person who built it. A written plan — income, growth, giving, your own estate — is how it stays intact and purposeful instead of dissolving into the everyday.
We triage the real deadlines first, then build the long-term plan at a humane pace — investments, tax strategy, and your own estate documents, coordinated by one fiduciary team.
Educational only — not investment, tax, or legal advice. Every situation is different; the right answer depends on the numbers, and that's what the strategy session is for.
Sit down with a fiduciary — not a salesman — and leave with a complimentary strategy for your exact situation, whether or not you ever hire us.