DM
San Diego
David Mendoza
Lead Advisor · CFP, AWMS
Surviving Spouse & Divorce
Clarity in the hardest financial conversations — widowhood, separation, and the rebuild that follows. Holds the AWMS designation specifically for this work.
There's no script. There is a sequence — what to do this week, what to wait on, and what to never do. We help you move through it without rushing decisions that will outlive the grief.
I'm sorry you're here. The financial side of losing a spouse is rarely the first thing on anyone's mind, and it shouldn't be — but it doesn't pause for grief either. Bills still come. Accounts still need access. Decisions still get asked of you.
The good news is that very little of it has to be decided this week. The instinct to “get organized” fast is usually wrong. Most of the consequential financial decisions — selling the house, moving accounts, changing investments — are better made in months, not days.
What we do in the first meetings is build a short list of what genuinely needs to happen now, a longer list of what to actively delay, and a calendar for the rest.
A starting checklist. Not exhaustive — a place to begin.
A written list of what to do this week, this month, this quarter — and the things we're explicitly putting on hold.
We sit at the table on probate, beneficiary updates, and tax filing changes. You don't repeat the story five times.
Portfolios can wait. The first 6–12 months are about cash flow, account access, and stability — not reallocations.
Clarity in the hardest financial conversations — widowhood, separation, and the rebuild that follows. Holds the AWMS designation specifically for this work.
A short, practical sequence for the first weeks and months — written by an advisor who has walked through it with hundreds of households.