A 58-year-old client has just lost her husband. His estate is Rs 7 crore across 14 accounts, a Rs 2 crore life insurance claim is pending, and she needs Rs 2.5 lakh a month. How would you approach her, and what is the 90-day plan?

Listen first, confirm she has cash for the coming months, and promise that no major decision needs to be made for six to twelve months. Rs 20 lakh on hand covers eight months of need. The 90 days then go to paperwork: the insurance claim, transmission of the 11 nominated accounts, and a holding ladder for the Rs 2 crore once paid. Long term, Rs 9 crore against Rs 30 lakh a year is a 3.3% draw, which is manageable.

By not talking about investments. Someone who has just lost a partner is carrying grief, a pile of paperwork she has never seen and relatives with opinions. The adviser's first job is to listen, to find out what she is worried about, and to take urgency out of the room. Ask whether she would like a trusted person with her, keep the meeting short, write down what you agree and send it to her afterwards, because little of what is said in the first weeks is remembered.

Months of cash. Rs 12 lakh in the joint account and Rs 8 lakh in her own deposit, Rs 20 lakh, against Rs 2.5 lakh a month, gives about 8 months of cover without touching anything in the estate. Saying that out loud tells her she is safe for now, and it disarms the pressure to sell the flat or move money quickly. If the number had been two months, the plan would start with an early part-release of the insurance claim instead.

Build an inventory before touching anything. For the 11 accounts where she is nominee, transmissionThe transfer of a deceased holder account or units to the nominee or legal heir, done by submitting documents rather than by selling and rebuying. needs the death certificate, a claim form and her own KYC; the three without a nominee need further proof of heirship, which each institution specifies and which takes longer. Transmission moves holdings into her name without selling them, so there is no forced sale and no tax event at this stage. The document lists vary by institution and must be confirmed with each.

Into a holding position, not a portfolio. When the Rs 2 crore claim is paid, it goes into a ladder of deposits and liquid funds maturing over six to twelve months, earning about Rs 14 lakh a year at an assumed 7%, while she decides nothing. The long-run picture is reassuring: Rs 9 crore in total against Rs 30 lakh a year of spending is a 3.3% draw. The real plan, allocation, will and her own nominations, is built after the first year, when she is ready to make choices she will stand behind.