Recovering from your spouse's death is a process. In addition to the emotional toll, you're also facing issues that will have a big impact on you and your family, like a sudden change in your financial picture. Taking control of your finances is an important step in rebuilding your life and can help you tackle the fear that can accompany sudden, unexpected loss.

Most likely your spouse's death has had an immediate impact on your income. You have lost the income your spouse contributed to your household's finances, or in some cases, your spouse may have been the sole breadwinner, leaving you without any predictable income. In addition, your expenses can change dramatically. You're immediately faced with paying for a funeral. You may need to go back to work, forcing you to pay for daycare or help at home. That's all in addition to now assuming responsibility for you and your family's everyday ongoing expenses.

Try not to make any major financial decisions for at least a year following your spouse's death if at all possible. Instead of being overwhelmed at the thought of planning your family's finances for the next 20-30 years, take it one step at a time. Focus on your immediate needs and, over time, take care of the rest, getting the help you need along the way.

We know that rebuilding your life after losing your husband means you'll have to make a lot of decisions, especially financial decisions, that you may feel unprepared to make on your own.

TommorrowsMoney.org is designed to help people overcome hurdles and fears related to managing and planning for their financial future. We want to help you make wise money decisions during this difficult time. We've divided this subject into two parts - (1) what types of decisions and financial issues you'll immediately face upon losing your spouse and (2) some of the financial dimensions and life events you'll face as you rebuild and go forward after losing your spouse.

You can use this site in one of two ways: you can either jump immediately to an area of interest by clicking on the individual sections listed below or you can read through the entire site in sequence In the following pages you'll notice that we use "widow". That's because women are more likely to outlive their husband. In fact AARP research shows that of the estimated 13 million widowed Americans, more than 11 million of them are women. What's more, 80 to 90 percent of all women have never handled their finances before.

That means that the vast majority of women haven't had experience in handling their own finances yet they will need to manage money on their own at some point in their lives. Although the information in this site can be used by anyone, male or female, it's written to women as widows so as to avoid the confusion of continually referring to he/she or widow/widower.

We hope that this site provides you with a comprehensive overview of the types of decisions you'll need to make and how to make those choices to best preserve and honor your spouse's memory, as well as to provide for you and your family's future.

Grieving the unexpected death of a spouse is hard and painful. For many widows the pain of grief is accompanied by fear -- fear of an uncertain future, fear of emotional and physical insecurity, and fear of not knowing how you’ll take care of you and your family financially now that so much has changed. Many widows have no experience in handling finances. Having a plan can help you overcome fear and feel more confident in facing your future.

As you begin rebuilding your life without your husband, surround yourself with friends, family, and trusted professionals that can help you make wise decisions. You can do it. Take small steps. Over time, you’ll be able to look back and realize just how far you’ve come.