So sorry for your loss . My advice from a somewhat similar situation is to find some highly professional experts that you can trust . Getting advice from family can cause problems which you may have already seen , and in the end it ' s your life , your money to save and spend , and these people are dealing with similar problems for a living . Don ' t go crazy , keep your eyes on a future that you love with the knowledge that you are safe to pursue basically anything you want . Just don ' t fall into a trap that the money will last you forever and you won ' t have to do anything . You don ' t seem to be in danger of that . I hope that you have social support a network of close family or friends that you can really trust . I kept my own windfall mostly secret , but it ' s nice to have a few people that you can be open with even if your problems are a bit different from theirs . It ' s a weird feeling . You ' ll want to learn how to invest and how to save , lots of resources to get started with that sort of thing in the sidebar here . But none of that has to happen right now . Keep the money safe and then make sure you take time to take care of yourself .