The Currency of Grief

The Currency of Grief
  • 5.0 (28)
  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Biweekly

Death and money are two of the most taboo topics in our society yet they are inevitable for all of us. So why don’t we talk about death and money more? The fact is, we’re all going to have to face our mortality and the mortality of the people we love. During the toughest times in our life, we will also be faced with an overwhelming amount of financial and logistical decisions. These decisions have the power to bring people together or tear families apart. That’s why our mission is so important! Here on The Currency of Grief, we bring death and money to the forefront of the conversation. We’ll feature real life stories from real life people who have navigated the intersection of grief and money. Our guests are not celebrities, they are normal people just like you and me. My name is Justin Weidenfeld, and I’m going to serve as your Grief Financial Officer on the journey that is The Currency of Grief Podcast. My purpose for this podcast is to normalize conversations around death and money, inspire you to have deeper conversations with your loved ones (while you can), act as a resource for people currently navigating a grief and money journey, and encourage listeners to approach their own legacy head on. Whether you’re in the midst of your own grief and money journey or need a reality check about planning for the inevitable, this podcast is for you. Each episode provides heartfelt insights, logistical nuances and practical advice that will help you navigate financial and emotional adversity WHEN you are faced with loss. The Currency of Grief Podcast will air biweekly on Fridays and can be listened to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. I am grateful that you’ve decided to join me on this journey!

  1. 16h ago

    EP39: Becky Robison Part 2: Learnings And Advice From Writing My Parents Are Dead, What Now?

    What happens to your stuff, your accounts, and your family if you die without a will? Becky Robison returns with answers nobody wants to need.   Becky and Justin pick up their conversation on death and money by tackling the part nobody wants to think through in advance: what actually happens once someone dies. Becky offers practical advice on estate planning that goes well beyond a checklist, pairing the legal groundwork with an honest look at the emotional scarring that can follow when families skip these conversations. She lays out the three documents everyone should have before they need them, and explains why dying without a will hands your choices over to a court that follows rigid blood-relation rules, not your actual wishes. What happens to the people you love who aren't technically your next of kin?   From there the conversation gets into the unglamorous reality of settling an estate: the weeks-long wait for death certificates, the hunt for a lawyer you can actually stand to work with for a year, and the special frustration of convincing a bank that you're allowed to touch your dead parents’ money. Becky is refreshingly honest about the parts that feel absurd in the moment, like carrying around what she calls her "Uber Death Notebook" or negotiating with Netflix over a subscription nobody remembered to cancel.   Beneath the logistics runs a steadier question. How do you sort through a lifetime’s worth of someone’s belongings without confusing the objects for the person? Becky's answer draws on her training as a death doula as much as her own experience losing both parents, and it lands less on efficiency and more on grace. The paperwork will get done eventually. The grief deserves its own timeline too.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Introduction to The Currency of Grief with Becky Robison 02:19 The To-Die List: Estate Planning Documents Everyone Needs 09:10 Dying With a Will vs. Without a Will 16:15 What an Executor Does First: Death Certificates and Probate 32:52 Why Banks and Investment Firms Make Estate Access So Hard 51:15 What to Do (and Not Do) After an Unexpected Inheritance 1:00:05 Cleaning Out a Loved One's Home Without Losing Yourself 1:10:47 Avoiding Emotional Scarring While Settling an Estate   Connect with Becky Robison: Visit the My Parents Are Dead: What Now? website Get a copy of My Parents Are Dead: What Now?: A Panic-Free Guide to the Practicalities of Death Create your free will now Get a copy of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter (The Swedish Art of Living & Dying Series) National Make A Will Month   Connect with Justin Weidenfeld: Connect with Justin on LinkedIn Follow The Currency of Grief on LinkedIn  Follow The Currency of Grief on Instagram  Follow The Currency of Grief on TikTok  Subscribe to The Currency of Grief on YouTube Visit Justin’s website bio Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  2. Jul 31

    EP38: Becky Robison: My Parents Are Dead, What Now?

    You lose both parents. Then the legal paperwork starts, and no one hands you a manual. Becoming the executor of an estate after a parent dies feels like a job with no training. In this episode of The Currency of Grief, host Justin Weidenfeld sits down with Becky Robison, author of My Parents Are Dead, What Now? and co-host of the Bitching and Mourning podcast, who went through this herself and wrote the guide she needed.   Becky found her dad's will and living trust in a box under the Christmas decorations, then spent months guessing what came next. Her mom had died a few years earlier, so when her dad passed, the whole job landed on her with no roadmap. She learned the probate court process from scratch and explains how her dad’s lawyer failed to tell her that she needed to sign an acceptance of trust before acting as the successor trustee.   You hear how assets left outside her dad’s living trust sent her to probate court, turning a few gaps in the estate plan into a years-long legal detour. Then comes the human side. Losing a parent flattened her, yet friends showed up with a Twister mat and kept her standing while she handled the accounts. Becky stays honest about the fear of settling an estate alone and the mistakes she made along the way.   Nobody warns you what being the executor of an estate after a parent dies truly involves. If you are facing this road or want to spare your own family, press play. Becky gives you the plain, funny walkthrough no one handed her. Follow the show and start with the first real steps.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Meet Accidental Death Expert Becky Robison, Author Of My Parents Are Dead, What Now? 04:46 Losing A Mother To Alcoholism And A Long Decline 07:55 Dad's Stage Four Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis 16:19 How To Write A Parent's Obituary 19:34 How Money Was Talked About Growing Up 24:06 Becoming the Executor Of an Estate After a Parent Dies With No Instructions 27:33 Best Help And Worst Advice During Estate Settlement 32:56 Telling Her Dad He Wasn't Leaving The Hospital 41:19 Assets Left Out Of The Living Trust 45:51 The Ghost Car Titling Nightmare 51:36 Feeling Alone As A Young Executor 1:00:20 Questions She Wishes She'd Asked Her Parents 1:06:42 Grief Mantras And Advice For New Executors 1:07:54 Where To Find Becky's Book And Resources   Connect with Becky Robison: Visit My Parents Are Dead: What Now? website Follow My Parents Are Dead: What Now? on Instagram Get a copy of My Parents Are Dead: What Now? A Panic-Free Guide to the Practicalities of Death book Listen to the Bitching & Mourning podcast   Connect with Justin Weidenfeld: Connect with Justin on LinkedIn Follow The Currency of Grief on LinkedIn  Follow The Currency of Grief on Instagram  Follow The Currency of Grief on TikTok  Subscribe to The Currency of Grief on YouTube Visit Justin’s website bio Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  3. Jul 17

    EP37: Michael Lodato: A Son's Crash Course In Death Certificates, Business Inheritance, And Estate Bureaucracy

    Nobody prepares you to grieve a parent and manage their affairs at the same time. On The Currency of Grief, host Justin Weidenfeld sits down with Michael Lodato, a Brooklyn-based writer and owner of LiquorPermit.com, who became a co-executor of his mother’s estate in his early thirties after she passed away from melanoma just days before Christmas.    Michael and his sister stepped in as co-executors and got a crash course in everything no one talks about. A death certificate needs a raised seal or the DMV turns you away. A lender can repossess a car from the driveway as the estate paperwork sits in limbo. And a one-person consultancy can hold more value than anyone expects.   Michael shares what losing a parent at a young age taught him about support systems, from grief groups created for people in their twenties and thirties to the friend who dropped off bruschetta on a hard night. He also tells the story of inheriting a business that many people would have walked away from. Rather than selling his mother's domain and closing her files, he digitized her archive and continued building on the specialized work she had developed throughout her career.   Every estate executor faces choices that no checklist can fully cover. This conversation looks at those decisions through the experience of someone who made mistakes, kept the lessons, and found a way to carry his mother’s work forward. For anyone dealing with grief and financial responsibilities at the same time, Michael’s story offers an honest look at finding a way through.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Meet Michael Lodato and His Mother's Story 03:24 Melanoma Diagnosis and the Rush to Hospice 04:42 Family and Friends Rally During Hospice Care 06:44 How Friends Show Up During Grief 10:42 Therapy and Grief Groups for Young Adults 13:28 Writing a Eulogy for a Beloved Mother 19:02 Taking On the Estate Executor Role 21:37 Gathering Death Certificates and DMV Roadblocks 25:03 The Car Repossession Ordeal 28:47 Inheriting His Mother's Liquor Permit Business 34:31 How Grief Reshaped Michael's Career Path 37:35 Financial Inheritance and Selling the House 40:45 Conversations Left Unspoken With His Mother 47:00 How Loss Changed His Approach to Planning 50:01 Inheriting a Dress Shop and Finding Humor in Grief 52:26 Advice for Anyone Facing a Similar Loss 55:56 Honoring His Mother's Legacy With a Park Bench Connect with Michael Lodato:  Visit Mike's website  Follow Michael on Instagram Visit the Liquor Permit website    Connect with Justin Weidenfeld: Connect with Justin on LinkedIn Follow The Currency of Grief on LinkedIn  Follow The Currency of Grief on Instagram  Follow The Currency of Grief on TikTok  Subscribe to The Currency of Grief on YouTube Visit Justin’s website bio Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  4. Jul 3

    EP36: Nikki Sherman: Don't Die Overseas

    When your spouse dies abroad, nobody warns you that the paperwork battle might outlast the worst of the grief.   Nikki Sherman was living in the UK with her husband Scott and their daughter when Scott died suddenly at 52 from a pulmonary embolism. Settling an estate after a spouse dies is hard enough. Doing it across two countries, during a pandemic, while raising a teenager, is another thing entirely.   On The Currency of Grief, host Justin Weidenfeld talks with Nikki about the side of widowhood that nobody prepares you for. Not the sadness, but the bureaucracy. The phone calls where you tell the same story over and over. The financial institutions with different requirements. The Medallion Signature Guarantee rabbit hole that took years to resolve. The guilt of not being able to work, while quietly being relieved you didn't have to.   Nikki's experience with death overseas and probate in two countries lasted nearly three years. What got her through it was life insurance that paid out immediately, joint accounts that transferred without a fight, and a will that was recognized on both sides of the Atlantic.   Her story is one of grief and growth in equal measure. She stayed in the UK, raised her daughter through it, built a new life, and came out the other side with hard-won clarity about what it really takes when a spouse dies abroad and leaves you holding everything.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 When a Spouse Dies Abroad: Nikki Sherman's Story 04:01 Scott Sherman: Life, Love, and 20 Years in the UK 09:31 What Is a Pulmonary Embolism and Why It's So Deadly 13:51 Making Decisions While Drowning in Grief 14:17 Funeral Planning Overseas and Celebrating a Life Well Lived 23:27 Traveling With Human Remains on an Airplane 25:46 Settling an Estate After Spouse Dies: The Financial Reality 27:45 UK vs. US Assets and How Joint Accounts Saved the Day 31:34 Why Having a Will Across Two Countries Matters 36:09 Life Insurance After Spouse Dies: The Emotional and Financial Truth 37:17 When Grief Makes It Impossible to Go Back to Work 41:37 Life Insurance as a Financial Lifeline for Widows 46:53 Probate in Two Countries: UK First, Then the US 47:23 The Medallion Signature Guarantee Nightmare for Expats 53:19 What Nikki Wishes She Had Done Differently 55:36 How This Experience Changed Her Relationship With Money 58:11 Honoring Scott's Legacy and Finding Life After Loss Links: Visit the Widowed and Young website Apply to the Experience Camps programs   Connect with Justin Weidenfeld: Connect with Justin on LinkedIn Follow The Currency of Grief on LinkedIn  Follow The Currency of Grief on Instagram  Follow The Currency of Grief on TikTok  Subscribe to The Currency of Grief on YouTube Visit Justin’s website bio Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  5. Jun 19

    EP35: Emily Bouchard: The Slinky of Grief & the Purpose of Wealth

    Losing a parent at 14 does not just change your childhood. It changes every version of you that comes after.   On The Currency of Grief, host Justin Weidenfeld sits down with Emily Bouchard, family dynamics expert, TEDx speaker, and host of the Wealth Coherence podcast. Emily was 14 when her mother died suddenly at 44 from a brain aneurysm. What followed was decades of grief that kept showing up, in new relationships, in major decisions, and in a single year that changed everything.   That year was the death year. The age Emily turned 44, the same age her mother was when she died. She did not see it coming, but her body did. It stopped her, reoriented her, and ultimately freed her to live by her values in a way she never had before.   Emily also shares her concept of “the slinky of grief”, and why loss does not arrive once and leave. It comes back around, hitting you at different points across your life, sometimes when you least expect it.   The conversation turns to families and the weight of what goes unsaid. What does it cost when parents and children never talk about the purpose of our wealth, about wishes, values, and what they want their legacy to mean? Emily has seen those costs up close, and she knows how to help families start talking before it is too late.   She leaves with two words that have carried her through it all. Grace and gratitude. Not as platitudes, but as a real practice.   If any of this feels familiar, this episode is for you.   Find Emily at emilybouchard.com or trustmoneyfamilies.com    Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Meet Emily Bouchard: Family Dynamics Expert and TEDx Speaker 04:28 Losing Her Mother at 14: Emily's Story of Grief 09:50 Who Was Joan: Remembering a Mother's Kindness and Legacy 13:11 Finding Support After Loss: The Grief Cliff and Who Shows Up 16:14 Family Dynamics After Sudden Loss: Remarriage and Rebuilding 19:13 The Slinky of Grief: How Loss Resurfaces at Every Life Stage 23:00 The Death Year: What Happens When You Reach the Age Your Parent Died 29:26 No Plan, No Will, No Conversation: What Happened After the Funeral 33:32 How Families Fight Over Belongings and How to Prevent It 40:27 The Cost of Silence: Why Families Avoid Talking About Inheritance 46:52 Legacy Versus Estate Plans: Knowing What to Do With What You Inherit 49:15 How to Start Inheritance Conversations Without Talking About Numbers 57:35 Aligning Values and Purpose Before Making Estate Decisions 58:22 How Loss Changed Emily's Approach to Planning and Giving 1:02:50 Grace and Gratitude: Words of Wisdom for Anyone Carrying Grief Connect with Emily Bouchard Visit Emily's website Get a copy of The Little Book of Trust and Money Listen to The Wealth Coherence Podcast Watch Emily's TEDx talk about inheritance Visit the Enlightened Philanthropy website   Connect with Justin Weidenfeld: Connect with Justin on LinkedIn Follow The Currency of Grief on LinkedIn  Follow The Currency of Grief on Instagram  Follow The Currency of Grief on TikTok  Subscribe to The Currency of Grief on YouTube Visit Justin’s website bio Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  6. Jun 5

    EP34: Vincent Valeri: Overcoming a Culture of Silence

    He was trying to be present for his father’s final weeks while carrying the legal and financial responsibility of what would come next.   That's the reality Vincent Valeri faced in the winter of 2022, and on this episode of The Currency of Grief, host Justin Weidenfeld gives him the space to tell it honestly. When Vincent's father Vincenzo was diagnosed with stage four bile duct cancer in December of that year and given six to eight weeks to live, Vincent had to hold two roles at once. He was the grieving son and the person legally responsible for closing out a complex, imperfectly planned estate.   Executor responsibilities after death don't wait for grief to pass. Vincent learned that quickly. In the weeks that followed, he was simultaneously updating beneficiaries, getting the matrimonial home properly titled, meeting with accountants about holding companies and crossing fiscal years, and making legal decisions on a timeline no one plans for. By the time his father passed in February 2023, Vincent was facing multiple tax filings and what became a 26-month probate process.   What makes this conversation so valuable is Vincent's candor about grief and estate planning from the inside. He talks about the invisible wall of cultural respect that made hard family conversations about death nearly impossible, the loneliness of being an executor, and the painful gap between what he knew professionally and what his father had actually put in place.   The practical lessons here are real. Update beneficiary designations. Get both names on accounts before it's too late. Know what a bank will and won't let you do when someone can't come in to sign. Understand that executor responsibilities after death include decisions you'll be making without the person who should have made them.   Vincent closes with something simple and true: It's going to be okay. Not as a platitude, but as something he had to find his way back to.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Welcome to The Currency of Grief with Vincent Valeri 03:30 Vincenzo Valeri: An Italian Immigrant Who Built a Life in Canada 06:25 Getting a Terminal Diagnosis and Knowing the Estate Wasn't Ready 10:21 How Italian and Canadian Culture Shapes Family Conversations About Death 20:34 Executor Responsibilities After Death: What No One Tells You 30:16 The First Financial Steps to Take After a Terminal Diagnosis 34:36 Holding Companies, Blended Families, and Complex Estate Situations 47:15 When Siblings Have Unequal Information About the Estate 58:12 Why Family Meetings Are the Foundation of Good Legacy Planning 1:09:33 Words of Wisdom for Anyone Facing a Parent's Terminal Illness Connect with Vincent Valeri: Visit the Valeri Associates website Connect with Vincent on LinkedIn   Connect with Justin Weidenfeld: Connect with Justin on LinkedIn Follow The Currency of Grief on LinkedIn  Follow The Currency of Grief on Instagram  Follow The Currency of Grief on TikTok  Subscribe to The Currency of Grief on YouTube Visit Justin’s website bio Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  7. May 22

    EP33: Richard Wood: "He’s Only Gone Physically," Honoring Spencer’s Legacy of Kindness

    Grief after losing a child doesn't follow a script, and no one knows that better than Richard Wood.   Nearly 20 years ago, Richard's 22-year-old son Spencer died in a sudden unexpected loss that changed everything. There was no warning, no goodbye, and no roadmap for what came next. In this episode of The Currency of Grief, host Justin Weidenfeld sits down with Richard to talk about how a father carries that kind of loss forward, through marriage, through raising daughters, and into a season of life where seven grandchildren now grow up hearing Spencer stories.   Richard is a father who held his family together while quietly falling apart. His wife grieved through anger. Each of his daughters found their own painful path. Richard himself never went a single day without telling someone a Spencer story. He didn't move through the stages of grief in any tidy order, and he's honest about why that is. Grief after losing a child is shaped by the relationship you had, and no two relationships are the same.   The conversation gets into what people get wrong when supporting someone who is grieving. Richard has heard every well-meaning platitude and he handles them with patience. His advice is straightforward. Show up. Say you're sorry. Then stop talking and listen. Not just in the first week, but for months afterward when everyone else has moved on and the person grieving is left alone with it.   Faith played a quiet but significant role in Richard's journey. He didn't expect to find it the way he did, but losing Spencer revealed a depth of belief he hadn't known was there. It didn't erase the pain. It gave him somewhere to put it.   A fraternity brother once said that Spencer was not just someone people knew. He was someone who changed the way life felt when he was around. That comment became the foundation for something Richard has kept alive for two decades. Every year at Cal Poly, a student is anonymously nominated by peers for how they live and how they treat others. They never apply for it. They simply get chosen because of their kindness. Richard has watched that scholarship outlive an entire generation of Spencer's college friends because it stopped being about Spencer specifically and became about everything he represented.   This episode is for anyone who has experienced losing a son, a daughter, or any person they weren't ready to live without.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Welcome to The Currency of Grief 02:22 Richard Wood's Story and Why He Shares It 06:40 Who Spencer Was and the Family He Left Behind 08:59 Grief After Losing a Child and Why Time Does Not Heal 16:23 How Every Family Member Grieves Differently 19:05 What Not to Say to Someone Who Is Grieving 22:28 The Grief Cliff and What Happens When Support Disappears 23:32 The Lifestyle Scholarship and Honoring Spencer's Memory 42:14 Financial and Practical Advice for the First Year of Grief 47:28 Faith, Hope, and Love as Pillars of the Grief Journey Connect with Richard Wood: Visit The Compassionate Friends Org Website   Connect with Justin Weidenfeld: Connect with Justin on LinkedIn Follow The Currency of Grief on LinkedIn  Follow The Currency of Grief on Instagram  Follow The Currency of Grief on TikTok  Subscribe to The Currency of Grief on YouTube Visit Justin’s website bio Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  8. May 8

    EP32: Davis Wilkinson: The Brother He Lost and the System He Rebuilt, Heirloom

    Estate settlement after death is one of the most overlooked burdens grieving families face, and on this episode of The Currency of Grief, host Justin Weidenfeld sits down with Davis Wilkinson, CEO and founder of Heirloom, to talk about why that burden exists and what it actually costs families to carry it alone.   Davis's story starts with sibling loss and grief. His older brother Adam died of a methadone overdose in 2009, when Davis was just 14. He spent the next decade in emotional repression, not out of indifference but out of sheer incapacity. It wasn't until his mid-twenties, after leaving the Mormon church and losing the theological certainty that he'd see Adam again, that the grief finally caught up with him. What followed was years of intensive therapy and a hard-won understanding of what it means to grieve on your own timeline.   The conversation moves naturally into grief and money when Davis describes watching his mother navigate the estate administration process after Adam's passing. That experience became the foundation for Heirloom, a platform designed to support executors through one of the most logistically overwhelming roles a person can be asked to fill while also managing loss.   Davis talks about asset discovery, the staggering volume of unclaimed assets in the United States, and the systemic gaps that leave families without clear guidance at the worst possible time. Right now, there are no enforced standards for how banks treat executors during estate settlement after death, and he makes a clear case that this gap is costing grieving families more than just time.   This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered why handling a loved one's affairs feels so impossible, and for anyone who needs to know they are not alone in finding it that way.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Introduction to The Currency of Grief 02:02 Davis Wilkinson and the Story Behind Heirloom 03:45 Sibling Loss Grief: Losing a Brother to Drug Overdose 09:54 Childhood Grief and Emotional Repression 17:29 Finding Support and Coping After Loss 19:55 Leaving the Mormon Church and Facing Grief for the First Time 21:57 Estate Settlement After Death: What Davis's Mother Faced 45:04 How to Fix the Estate Administration System 49:16 Unclaimed Assets and What Families Are Missing 51:44 What Executors Need and How Heirloom Helps 55:50 How Loss Changes Your Approach to Life and Planning 58:35 Words of Wisdom for Anyone Navigating Grief Connect with Davis Wilkinson: Visit the Heirloom website Connect with Davis on LinkedIn   Connect with Justin Weidenfeld: Connect with Justin on LinkedIn Follow The Currency of Grief on LinkedIn  Follow The Currency of Grief on Instagram  Follow The Currency of Grief on TikTok  Subscribe to The Currency of Grief on YouTube Visit Justin’s website bio Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

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Death and money are two of the most taboo topics in our society yet they are inevitable for all of us. So why don’t we talk about death and money more? The fact is, we’re all going to have to face our mortality and the mortality of the people we love. During the toughest times in our life, we will also be faced with an overwhelming amount of financial and logistical decisions. These decisions have the power to bring people together or tear families apart. That’s why our mission is so important! Here on The Currency of Grief, we bring death and money to the forefront of the conversation. We’ll feature real life stories from real life people who have navigated the intersection of grief and money. Our guests are not celebrities, they are normal people just like you and me. My name is Justin Weidenfeld, and I’m going to serve as your Grief Financial Officer on the journey that is The Currency of Grief Podcast. My purpose for this podcast is to normalize conversations around death and money, inspire you to have deeper conversations with your loved ones (while you can), act as a resource for people currently navigating a grief and money journey, and encourage listeners to approach their own legacy head on. Whether you’re in the midst of your own grief and money journey or need a reality check about planning for the inevitable, this podcast is for you. Each episode provides heartfelt insights, logistical nuances and practical advice that will help you navigate financial and emotional adversity WHEN you are faced with loss. The Currency of Grief Podcast will air biweekly on Fridays and can be listened to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. I am grateful that you’ve decided to join me on this journey!

Information

  • Creator
    The Currency of Grief
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    40
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Currency of Grief