The Inheritance Checklist for Your First 90 Days: What to Do, When, and Why It Matters
The first 90 days after receiving an inheritance are when the most consequential and the most avoidable financial mistakes tend to happen. A structured inheritance checklist for the first 90 days doesn't replace professional judgment, but it does prevent the kind of irreversible errors that occur simply because no one knew a deadline existed or a document needed to be gathered.
This checklist is organized by timeframe, from the hours and days immediately after a death through the full 90-day window, and focuses specifically on recordkeeping, taxes, account transfers, cash reserves, and planning updates. Each section identifies not just what to do, but what makes the timing of each action consequential.
At Post Oak Private Wealth Advisors, we work with surviving spouses, adult children, and executors who are navigating exactly this process, often simultaneously managing grief, family logistics, and financial decisions that interact in ways that are not always obvious at first.
Immediate Actions: The First Week
Secure assets and order death certificates
Before any financial decision can be made, a small number of practical steps cannot wait. This is the moment for an inheritance checklist for the first 90 days, so it can guide you with responsibility. Secure the deceased's home, vehicle, and any physically accessible valuables. Order more certified death certificates than seems necessary at the outset.
Nearly every financial institution, insurer, and government agency involved in transferring assets will require one, and ordering too few at the start means delays later. The guide produced by Post Oak Private Wealth Advisors recommends ordering ten to fifteen certified copies as a baseline.
Locate the will and identify the executor
Another point of our inheritance checklist for the first 90 days is to find the original will and confirm who is named as executor. This determines who has legal authority to act on behalf of the estate. If the deceased had a revocable living trust, locate that document as well. The executor and any successor trustee have different roles, and understanding which applies to which asset matters immediately.
Do not sign or transfer anything yet
One of the most costly early mistakes is acting on documents presented by financial institutions, insurance agents, or advisors before the full picture is understood. Rollover paperwork, settlement options on life insurance or annuities, and distribution elections on retirement accounts can carry irreversible consequences. During the first week, the default position should be to gather and hold, not to act.
Confirm continuing obligations
Recurring bills tied to jointly held accounts, including mortgage payments, utilities, and property insurance on any real estate, need to continue uninterrupted. Homeowner's insurance on a property that will sit vacant is a particular concern: many standard policies limit or exclude coverage after 30 to 60 days of vacancy. Notifying the insurer promptly preserves coverage and avoids an uninsured loss during the estate settlement period is also part of an inheritance checklist for the first 90 days.
First 30 Days: Build the Foundation
Complete a full asset inventory
A complete, written inventory of every inherited asset is the foundation for every decision that follows. It is actually important for the inheritance checklist the first 90 days. This includes assets that are easy to overlook: old employer retirement plans, dormant bank accounts, safe deposit box contents, digital assets and cryptocurrency, mineral or royalty interests, and any unclaimed property that may be held by the state. Organizing records by asset type, rather than by institution, makes subsequent conversations with a CPA and attorney significantly more efficient.
Confirm actual beneficiary designations
Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and annuities transfer according to beneficiary designation forms on file with each institution, not according to the will. Confirming what the actual designation says, rather than assuming it matches the estate plan or what the deceased intended, is one of the steps most commonly skipped for the first 90 days in the inheritance checklist. Discrepancies between a will and a designation form are more common than most families expect, and the designation controls in every case.
Establish a cash reserve for carrying costs
Before making any decisions about investment accounts or other inherited assets, identify a source of liquid funds to cover ongoing expenses during the estate settlement period. This includes property taxes, mortgage payments, insurance premiums, utility costs on any real estate, and the professional fees that will accompany the process.
A common mistake inside the inheritance checklist for the first 90 days is letting inherited investments drive early decisions simply because those accounts appear most accessible, when in fact a clear cash reserve would allow all other decisions to be made more deliberately.
Contact a CPA and probate attorney early
A short, focused meeting with a CPA and an attorney early in the process, even before every fact is fully assembled, prevents decisions that are difficult or impossible to undo later. The tax character of what has been inherited, the filing obligations of the estate, whether a federal estate tax return should be filed even if no tax is owed, and whether the estate will require its own tax identification number are all questions worth answering in the first 30 days rather than after a decision has already been made.
Days 30 to 60: Account Transfers and Tax Clarity
Initiate account transfers correctly
Inherited brokerage accounts can generally be transferred in-kind, meaning investments move from the decedent's account to a beneficiary account without being liquidated. This preserves the stepped-up basis established at the date of death and avoids the question of being out of the market during the transfer.
Standard brokerage-to-brokerage transfers typically complete within one to two weeks, but estate and inherited account transfers often take longer because of the additional documentation required. Beginning the paperwork promptly keeps this from becoming an extended delay.
Understand the tax character of every inherited asset
Not every inherited dollar is taxed the same way. Life insurance death benefits are generally income-tax-free. Inherited investments sold at or near their stepped-up basis typically trigger little or no capital gains tax. Distributions from a traditional IRA or 401(k), however, are ordinary income to the beneficiary, taxed at the beneficiary's marginal rate.
Savings bonds carry accrued interest that is taxable as income in respect of a decedent when the bond is cashed, regardless of how long the original owner held them. Understanding this before creating an inheritance checklist for the first 90 days and selling or transferring any asset prevents inadvertent tax exposure from a decision that seemed straightforward.
Clarify inherited IRA distribution requirements before completing an inheritance checklist for the first 90 days
For most non-spouse beneficiaries of retirement accounts where the original owner died in 2020 or later, the account must be fully distributed by the end of the tenth year following the year of death. Whether annual distributions are also required during that period depends on whether the original owner had reached their required beginning date for RMDs.
The final IRS regulations governing this, which took effect for 2025 distribution years, resolved a question that had been open for four years. Beneficiaries subject to the annual-distribution version of the 10-year rule who did not take distributions in prior years are not required to make up those amounts, but must take distributions beginning in 2025 and still fully empty the account by the original deadline.
Surviving spouses have significantly more flexibility, including the option to roll an inherited IRA into their own account or remain a beneficiary, a decision that depends heavily on the spouse's age and near-term income needs is part of the inheritance checklist for the first 90 days.
Days 60 to 90: Planning Integration
Update your own estate plan and beneficiary designations
Receiving an inheritance changes a beneficiary's own financial picture in ways that typically require updating their estate plan. Beneficiary designations on the beneficiary's own retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts may need to be revised to reflect the new assets.
Asset titling should be reviewed to confirm that jointly held or community property is structured as intended. A Texas couple in particular should confirm that any property titled during the marriage accurately reflects its character as community property, since this affects both the double step-up in basis and future estate in planning an inheritance checklist for the first 90 days.
Assess whether a Section 754 election applies
If any inherited asset includes a partnership or LLC interest, confirm with the partnership's tax advisor whether a Section 754 election has been made or can still be made in time. Without this election, an heir can be taxed on phantom gain when the partnership later sells an appreciated asset, calculated using the partnership's old pre-inheritance basis rather than the stepped-up basis the heir received.
The election must generally be made in writing on the partnership's timely filed return for the year of the triggering event, and heirs should notify the partnership promptly.
Build a multi-year distribution plan for inherited retirement accounts
If an inherited retirement account is subject to the 10-year rule, the timing and size of annual withdrawals within that window affects both the beneficiary's tax bracket in each year and their exposure to additional costs such as Medicare IRMAA surcharges, which are based on income reported two years prior.
The final part of an inheritance checklist for the first 90 days is distributing an inherited IRA in a single lump sum in year ten is the most common and most avoidable outcome of not having a plan. Spreading withdrawals across years of lower income, or coordinating them with other taxable events, can reduce the total tax paid on the same account meaningfully.
Consider whether any asset should be disclaimed
A qualified disclaimer under IRC §2518 allows a beneficiary to refuse an inheritance, causing it to pass as though they had predeceased the owner, typically to the next beneficiary in line. This is a genuine planning tool for beneficiaries who do not need the assets and are comfortable with the outcome of passing them to the next generation or into a trust structure the estate plan anticipated.
The disclaimer must be made in writing within nine months of the transfer, before accepting any benefit from the asset. For a retirement account, taking even a single voluntary distribution generally forfeits the ability to disclaim the rest.
Working Through the First 90 Days With a Coordinated Plan For a Better Inheritance Checklist
An inheritance checklist for the first 90 days is most useful when it is treated as a living document rather than a one-time review. Decisions made in the first week can close off options that would have been available a month later. Conversely, a well-sequenced approach to recordkeeping, tax clarity, and account transfers creates the conditions for every subsequent decision to be made with a complete picture rather than an incomplete one.
If the assets involved are substantial, if multiple asset types are in play, or if the interaction between inherited accounts and the beneficiary's own retirement and tax situation is unclear, a coordinated analysis is worth doing before acting rather than after.
Post Oak Private Wealth Advisors works with clients navigating this process to evaluate how each inherited asset fits alongside existing retirement income, tax obligations, investment holdings, and long-term planning objectives.
FAQ
Does the inheritance checklist for the first 90 days apply the same way to every type of inherited asset?
No. Having an inheritance checklist for the first 90 days, the steps and urgency differ significantly by asset type. Inherited retirement accounts carry strict distribution deadlines and distribution elections that, once missed or made, are difficult or impossible to reverse. Inherited real estate carries insurance, mortgage, and property tax obligations that begin immediately regardless of probate status.
What is the risk of doing nothing for the first 90 days?
The risk is not uniform. Some inaction is appropriate. The guide produced by Post Oak Private Wealth Advisors specifically recommends against making major financial decisions, including selling property, cashing out accounts, or making large gifts, within the first 90 days unless a hard legal deadline requires it.
Can a non-spouse beneficiary convert an inherited traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?
Generally no. The conversion option is available only to the original account owner during their lifetime, or to a surviving spouse who elects to treat the inherited IRA as their own. For a non-spouse beneficiary subject to the 10-year rule, the relevant question is not whether to convert, but how to time ordinary income withdrawals from the inherited traditional IRA across the available years to manage the tax bracket impact, rather than concentrating the full distribution in a single year.
What happens if a required minimum distribution from an inherited IRA is missed?
A missed required minimum distribution carries an excise tax of 25% of the shortfall, which is reduced to 10% if the error is corrected within the IRS's correction window. The IRS waived this penalty for certain missed distributions during 2021 through 2024 while final regulations were pending, but that relief ended with the 2025 distribution year.
Should the estate file a federal estate tax return if no estate tax is owed?
Often yes, specifically to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused federal estate and gift tax exemption, which is $15 million per individual for 2026. Filing Form 706 solely to preserve that unused exemption for the surviving spouse's benefit is easy to overlook precisely because no tax is due and the filing appears unnecessary.
When should an inherited brokerage account's concentrated stock position be reviewed?
The period immediately after inheriting is typically the least expensive time, from a tax standpoint, to evaluate a concentrated stock position. Because the position receives a stepped-up basis to fair market value at the date of death, selling at or near that value triggers little or no capital gains tax. Waiting allows new appreciation to accumulate on the position, which then becomes taxable when the decision to diversify is eventually made.