How do new widows and widowers feel about the services and products of financial professionals who assisted them during the early months following the death of a spouse?
Conversations with many survivors of my own acquaintance have led me to the following conclusions. To be sure, these are not survey-level results; but the views summarized here are so universal as to be astonishing. 
The survivors want help filling out the forms–banking, insurance, brokerage, employee benefits, etc.
That sounds pretty simple, but apparently it's not as common as one would think. Many professionals just deliver e-mail or fax documents requiring changes, with x's marked for the survivor to fill in.
Guess what? Many survivors say this is an overwhelming task because the memories keep intruding. Others say they were not sure what name or number to insert in the marked areas, because the form wasn't clear. Still others couldn't find the necessary information, and fretted over what would happen if it never turned up.
The survivors want help with acting on the end-of-life documents and bills that arrive over the first weeks and months.
They say they did make calls–to the human resource department of the employer, the bank, the planner, etc.–but they didn't always reach someone who could assist. That meant calling again, but this was emotionally exhausting–because of painful reminders of the loss–so they would often put it off. As a result, the piles of mail grew and the documents languished. Family members were not always available to help or capable. What these survivors wanted and needed was a "reliable someone" to help get them back on track.
The survivors want help with securing the benefits due them.
That includes life insurance, 401(k), and the rest. It's worth noting that most widows and widowers I know did not have any trouble with securing the death benefit proceeds of the life insurance. Simple bank accounts were not a problem either. But obtaining access to investment accounts, including the 401(k), was not always a slam dunk.
