Yes,
It's nice to pay off the mortgage for deceased veterans spouses as T to T espouses but who the heck is going to pay the property taxes on said property once it's paid off? Yeah, it gives the surviving spouse some breathing room to re-plan their family's lives with surviving kids (if any) but it's not like the family is going to be able to stay in their home if the breadwinner died in the service. Now if there are enough death benefits to cover tax costs lifelong, then my premise is a moot point.
Property taxes need to be paid year by year and if the surviving wife in this case doesn't have the skills to work a high enough income job to cover property taxes, the remaining family will have to move. I assume said wife has to take care of the kids and that's a lot of work! If she say perhaps is college educated and can get into the workforce with a good job, by all means she'll be able to take care of her kids and stay where they're living.
On the other hand, if it's a surviving husband whose wife died in the service and he at least has some marketable skills, should be able to get gainful employment to take care of the kids. If not, he'll have to move and hope his parents and in-laws can help with childcare.
I've seen situations where the wife was highly trained, made a high income and the husband stayed home to be a "Mr. Mom". Nothing wrong with that if the parties in question agree with it. I guess that's where it's prudent to invest in disability insurance if at all possible.
Kurt
It's nice to pay off the mortgage for deceased veterans spouses as T to T espouses but who the heck is going to pay the property taxes on said property once it's paid off? Yeah, it gives the surviving spouse some breathing room to re-plan their family's lives with surviving kids (if any) but it's not like the family is going to be able to stay in their home if the breadwinner died in the service. Now if there are enough death benefits to cover tax costs lifelong, then my premise is a moot point.
Property taxes need to be paid year by year and if the surviving wife in this case doesn't have the skills to work a high enough income job to cover property taxes, the remaining family will have to move. I assume said wife has to take care of the kids and that's a lot of work! If she say perhaps is college educated and can get into the workforce with a good job, by all means she'll be able to take care of her kids and stay where they're living.
On the other hand, if it's a surviving husband whose wife died in the service and he at least has some marketable skills, should be able to get gainful employment to take care of the kids. If not, he'll have to move and hope his parents and in-laws can help with childcare.
I've seen situations where the wife was highly trained, made a high income and the husband stayed home to be a "Mr. Mom". Nothing wrong with that if the parties in question agree with it. I guess that's where it's prudent to invest in disability insurance if at all possible.
Kurt