<prompt> Human: Hey guys,My mom has been battling cancer since 2010, it went in to remission for a while but it recently came back with a vengeance and she has been given 18 months to live.My dad and sister passed away in 2011 very suddenly and it has just been the 2 of us for the last 4 years. I live in California, she lives in Wisconsin. She is 65, very sharp and is all there mentally, but Im not sure if she knows even where to start with any of her end-of-life finances. I am a 28yo Male if that matters for any of this. Heres what I am trying to figure out:-She doesnt own a house, but there is some land that has been passed down that is apparently already in my name as well as hers, supposedly to make it easier to pass to me when she dies. There is a garage and a small campertrailer on the property. What can I expect to happen with this property in terms of taxes, inheritance etc?-She has some parent plus loans that she took out for me to go to college back in 2008. What will happen to these loans?-My dad was in the military and she receives survivor benefits since he passed, about 6000year. What will happen to this when she passes? I assume it just ends but I have no idea.-She has about 30k in investments and a 401k, as well as a checking and savings account etc. Will this end up going to me? I assume these will all be taxed? If so, what is the process and how should I deal with it?-Im really not sure if she has a will. If she doesnt, I assume everything falls to me as I am next of kin. I will be going home for the holidays, what can Ishe do to prepare to make a proper will?-She has life insurance, enough for a basic cremation and funeral. Does this go directly to the proper channels when she passes or will the insurance come to me? How would I go about distributing it and making sure it all goes to the right peopleplaces?-Is there anything in your experience that I have not thought of or should do?Thank you for all your help.  <response>: Stop worrying about taxes. Unless she has over 5.xx million in her estate, there wont be any estate taxes check local laws to see if her state has an estate tax and what the limit is. Inheritances also have no tax that would be double taxation, on the estate and the inheritance.First things first, you should go find a good estate planning or probate lawyer in your moms state and talk to them.On the land, if youre already on the deed it should go directly to you without going into probate. Youll start owing property taxes on the land that I assume your mom is paying now.If the parent plus loans are federal, they will be discharged on death. Get the account information from your mom, and then send them a letter asking for discharge with a photocopy of the death certificate when its time. If the loans are private, youll have to talk to the lender. Worst case, the loans get handled by the estate, which hopefully should have almost nothing in it.I dont know what happens with your dads survivor benefits, but I assume they go away. Call whatever department sends the checks for more info.For the 401k and investment account, make sure your mom has set beneficiaries on the accounts. Any account with a beneficiary will bypass estate probate and go directly the beneficiary. For any bank accounts, make sure they have pay on death clauses for the same reason.She doesnt really need a will if everything else is handled, but it wouldnt hurt to pay an estate attorney for an hour to set up a simple will.For the life insurance, you can either have her set you as a beneficiary, or let it go to the estate. The estates obligations are to pay first funereal expenses, then medical debts, then any owed taxes, and finally creditors. If everything else is going to you, this would be the only money in the estate and it would pay off the funeral. Any other creditors can fight for whatever pennies are left. They cant come after you. Personally, Id have her set you as a beneficiary, and then you pay for the funeral expenses directly. Anything left over is yours to keep, and other creditors get nothing. 