🎯 In 30 seconds: Big life events come with short deadlines that are easy to miss when you are busy or grieving: 30 or 60 days to change health coverage, 60 days to choose COBRA, beneficiary forms that override wills. Handle the deadlines first, park any large sums somewhere safe, and leave permanent decisions until you can think clearly.
Marriage
- Health insurance: you can add a spouse to an employer plan within 30 days of the wedding, or change Marketplace coverage within 60 days.
- Name change: update Social Security first, then your employer, banks and IDs, so tax records match.
- New W-4s for both of you, using the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator; two incomes can push you into under-withholding.
- Beneficiaries on retirement accounts and life insurance. They override a will.
- A money talk: debts, credit scores, goals and how you will split bills (joint, separate or a mix).
A new baby
- Add the baby to your health plan within 30 days (employer plans; coverage goes back to the birth date) or 60 days (Marketplace).
- Social Security number: usually requested at the hospital with the birth certificate paperwork. You need it to claim the child on your taxes.
- Life and disability insurance if you do not have enough (see the protect move).
- Will and guardian: name who would raise your child.
- Benefits: look for a dependent care FSA at work, and update your W-4 for the child tax credit.
Job loss
- File for unemployment the first week. Rules are by state; find yours through CareerOneStop.
- Health coverage: you have at least 60 days to elect COBRA and then 45 days to pay; coverage is retroactive. Compare it with a Marketplace plan, which you can choose within 60 days of losing job coverage and which may come with subsidies.
- Cut to a bare-bones budget right away and use your emergency fund for essentials.
- Do not cash out the 401(k). Leave it or roll it to an IRA; cashing out means taxes and usually a 10% penalty before 59½.
- Call lenders before you miss a payment and ask about hardship programs.
Divorce
- Make a complete list of accounts, debts, property and recent statements, and pull all three credit reports.
- Open accounts and a credit card in your own name.
- Workplace retirement plans are usually split with a court order called a QDRO, which avoids early-withdrawal penalties on the transfer. Ask your attorney.
- After the decree: update beneficiaries, your will, your W-4 and filing status, and remove joint accounts or authorized users.
- Plan your own health coverage and budget on one income before you agree to a settlement.
Death of a spouse or parent
- Order several certified copies of the death certificate; banks and insurers each want one.
- The funeral home usually reports the death to Social Security. A surviving spouse may get a one-time $255 payment (apply within 2 years) and may qualify for survivor benefits.
- Find the will, life insurance policies and beneficiary designations. Claim life insurance directly with the insurer.
- Keep paying the mortgage, insurance and utilities so nothing lapses.
- Make no large decisions (selling a house, big gifts, new investments) for several months unless something is urgent.
An inheritance
- Park cash in an FDIC- or NCUA-insured account while you plan.
- An inheritance itself is generally not federal taxable income to you. A few states have an inheritance tax. The federal estate tax applies to the estate, and only above $15 million for deaths in 2026.
- Inherited stocks and property generally get a new cost basis at their value on the date of death, which can make selling soon after cheap in tax terms.
- Inherited IRAs: most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty the account within 10 years. Spreading withdrawals over those years can keep you out of higher brackets. Spouses, minor children, disabled or chronically ill people, and beneficiaries not more than 10 years younger have other options.
Worked example: a $200,000 inherited IRA
A non-spouse beneficiary taking it all in one year adds $200,000 of taxable income that year. Taking about $20,000 a year for 10 years (plus growth) spreads the tax and may keep each year in a lower bracket. Check whether annual withdrawals are also required during the 10 years in your case; the IRS rules depend on whether the original owner had started RMDs.
| Event | Hard deadline to watch |
|---|---|
| Marriage or birth | Employer health plan: 30 days. Marketplace: 60 days |
| Job loss | COBRA election: at least 60 days. Marketplace: 60 days |
| Death of a spouse | $255 lump-sum: apply within 2 years |
| Inherited IRA (most non-spouse) | Empty within 10 years |