When significant wealth passes to you, the pressure to act can feel immediate. The most valuable thing you can do in the first 90 days is understand what must be protected now, what needs a plan, and what can and should wait.
The greatest risk in a significant inheritance is not picking the wrong investment. It is making irreversible decisions under emotional pressure, without understanding how inherited assets fit into a financial life that already has its own complexity, and without the people around you who can see what you cannot see in that moment.
Inheritances arrive in the middle of grief, family complexity, and financial and legal details that most people have never had to navigate before. The instinct to act, to settle things, to do something, is understandable. It is also where most of the costly mistakes happen. The goal in the early weeks is not to resolve everything. It is to stabilize what needs stabilizing, protect what cannot wait, and create space for the decisions that deserve careful thought.
What Needs Attention First
A few things genuinely do require early action, and identifying them quickly is one of the most valuable things you can do in the first 30 days.
Inherited IRAs require early attention for specific reasons. If the original account holder had not yet taken their required minimum distribution in the year they passed, that distribution still needs to be made before year end, and it falls to the beneficiary. Missing it carries a penalty of 25% of the amount that should have been withdrawn. For non-spouse beneficiaries, understanding which distribution rules apply matters early, because taking a distribution before you understand the rules can affect your options for the years ahead.
Consider whether a disclaimer strategy is appropriate. A beneficiary generally has nine months from the date of the original owner’s death to formally disclaim inherited assets, redirecting them to a contingent beneficiary. The critical point: once you take possession of or accept any benefit from an inherited asset, the right to disclaim is permanently lost.
Inherited real estate needs to be insured promptly. Coverage tied to the original owner does not automatically transfer. A gap in coverage on a property that experiences a loss can create a significant problem on top of an already complex situation.
Assess the inherited portfolio against your own risk tolerance and goals. Inherited investments reflect the original owner’s strategy, not yours. Understanding what you hold, what risk it carries, and how it fits alongside your existing assets is an early conversation worth having with your financial advisor.
The Decisions That Should Wait
The majority of decisions that feel urgent after an inheritance are not. Liquidating an inherited portfolio. Making large gifts. Paying off a mortgage. Funding a new business venture. None of these need to happen in the first 90 days, and most benefit from being made only after a complete financial plan is in place.
Inherited assets do not arrive in a vacuum. They land inside a financial life that already has its own income, tax position, estate plan, and goals, and every decision about what to do with them interacts with all of that. The decisions that feel most pressing are often the ones most worth slowing down on, not because they are wrong, but because making them before the full picture is clear means making them without knowing what you might be giving up.
Patience costs nothing here. Moving too quickly can cost a great deal.
A client came to us as the executor of a parent’s estate with distributions still unresolved between herself and a sibling. Her father had named her as sole beneficiary on several accounts. She wanted to split the assets — a generous instinct that, without careful coordination, had already created tax complications. Working alongside her attorney and her sibling, we helped untangle the estate, address the tax consequences, and bring everything to a proper resolution. Once settled, we incorporated the inherited assets into her broader financial plan. Getting the structure right, not just for the accounts but for her goals and her family, was what the work was actually about.
From Inherited to Intentional
The goal of the first 90 days is not to have everything resolved. It is to have a clear roadmap: what must be handled now, what requires coordination across your CPA, attorney, and financial advisor, and what can wait until the picture is stable.
A client inherited a large pre-tax IRA from her father and came to us to work through her distribution options under the 10-year rule. We modeled several strategies against her existing income and tax bracket. One opportunity that emerged in coordination with her CPA: in the year she paid a substantial entrance fee to a retirement community, she took a larger distribution from the inherited IRA. The medical deduction available that year offset a meaningful portion of the tax, turning an unavoidable distribution into a well-timed one.
At Richard P. Slaughter Associates, every advisor holds the CFP® certification and the firm has been fee-only and fiduciary since 1991. When clients come to us in the middle of a wealth transition, we help build the priority list, coordinate across their existing professionals, and stay close when the stakes are highest.
If any of this resonates — whether you have recently received an inheritance and are not sure where to start, you are helping a family member navigate this moment, or you want to know that the people you love will have clear guidance when the time comes — we would welcome a conversation.
Richard P. Slaughter Associates is a Registered Investment Advisor. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
