As if grief were not enough, Laurene Powell Jobs has had other issues to handle in the wake of husband Steve Jobs's death: A frank, often-unflattering, bestselling biography of the Apple founder; two highly public memorial services; and now advice that she rush to sell her husband's Apple and Disney shares.

Waiting until 2013 to dispose of the $6.8 billion in stock would spike Jobs's tax rate considerably; instead of paying the current 15 percent on the capital gains, she'd pay 20 percent plus a 3.8 percent surcharge on unearned income (spouses don't have to worry about estate tax). Two lawyers and a planner tell Bloomberg News that Jobs will want to diversify her holdings, if not sell all of them. "I can't see any reason not to sell all of it," the top planner at rich-people-services firm Aspiriant told the newswire.

No small task: Jobs' Disney shares, to take one example, are 12 times a typical day's trading volume. One can't just push a button and unload them. At least not until financial services gets its own Steve Jobs.

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