Suze Orman has ‘one crucial piece of advice’ when a partner dies: Do nothing
The death of a spouse triggers an avalanche of decisions: paperwork, accounts, insurance claims, legal matters and well-meaning relatives with opinions about what to do with the money. Suze Orman’s advice for navigating all of it is simple.
“The one crucial piece of advice I have for the surviving spouse is to move slowly and make as few financial decisions as possible,” Orman wrote on her website. “The last thing you need is the stress of making big money decisions when grieving is most fierce.”
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Her reasoning is especially pointed around life insurance payouts. When a large death benefit lands in a surviving spouse’s account, Orman warns that it immediately attracts attention.
“This makes you a target for unsavory people who will tell you they have your best interests at heart, and have all sorts of great ideas for how you should invest (or spend) that money.” Her recommendation if you didn’t have a plan in place: keep the money in a safe bank or credit union account for a year or more, and simply wait.
Why this advice matters more than ever
The scam threat Orman describes is real.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) confirms total fraud losses reported by adults 60 and older surged from roughly $600 million in 2020 to $2.4 billion in 2024 — driven largely by investment scams, romance scams and impersonation schemes.
In fact, older adults reported around $744 million in investment scam losses that year, far more than any other fraud category.
But because most fraud goes unreported, the FTC estimates the true cost of fraud to older adults in 2024 could be as high as $81.5 billion, CNBC reports.
According to Carefull’s analysis of that data, romance scams especially affect single, divorced and widowed people, with seniors experiencing the biggest financial losses of any demographic.
The preparation that makes “do nothing” possible
Orman is clear that the advice to slow down only works if the couple has done the work in advance. Without preparation, a surviving spouse may have no choice but to make urgent decisions, because they don’t know key things like where the accounts are, who the beneficiaries are or what the plan was supposed to be.
Her checklist for couples to complete together while both are alive covers four areas:
1. Essential legal documents. A will, a living revocable trust with an incapacity clause, an advance directive and durable power of attorney for healthcare, and a durable power of attorney for finances. According to the 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study by Caring.com, 56% of Americans don’t have a will or trust — and only 24% of respondents reported having a will at all, down from 33% in 2022.
2. Shared financial literacy. Orman is direct about this: in retirement, it is “100% not okay” for one spouse to handle all the finances while the other remains in the dark. The surviving spouse needs to know where accounts are, why decisions were made and what the overall plan looks like.
3. Beneficiary verification. Every account, including bank accounts, retirement accounts and insurance policies, needs the correct beneficiary named.Outdated or missing beneficiary designations are one of the most common and costly estate planning mistakes, often overriding even a carefully written will, CNBC reports.
4. Social Security strategy. When one spouse dies, the survivor receives only one benefit — their own, or their deceased spouse’s, whichever is higher. Delaying the higher earner’s claim maximizes the benefit that will eventually support the surviving spouse alone. Claiming too early locks in a permanently reduced payment.
The emotional logic of waiting
Orman’s case for inaction is prudent planning with grief in mind. When the emotional weight of loss is at its heaviest, cognitive bandwidth suffers. That’s precisely when scammers apply pressure and when well-intentioned but uninformed decisions get made.
If the planning has been done, she notes, the surviving spouse won’t need to make any big decisions at all. And that, Orman says, is “going to be such a gift.”
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This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: Suze Orman has ‘one crucial piece of advice’ when a partner dies: Do nothing
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