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What to Do When Someone Dies: A Checklist by Time

When someone dies, the tasks arrive in the wrong order. People will hand you urgent-sounding jobs that can wait a month, while the two or three things that genuinely matter in the first hour go unmentioned. This page puts everything back in time order: the first hours, the first days, the first weeks, the first months.

Nothing here needs to be done all at once, and almost nothing here is a legal deadline. Work down the list, cross things off, and hand pieces of it to other people — the person who wants to help but does not know how is the right person to sit at the house during the service or to call the phone company.

One warning up front, because it saves families real money: do not sign a funeral contract, distribute belongings, or pay any of the deceased's bills out of your own pocket in the first few days. None of that is urgent, and some of it is irreversible.

The first hours

What happens first depends entirely on where the person died.

At home, expected — a hospice patient

Call the hospice, not 911. Hospice has a 24-hour number for exactly this, and a nurse will come, confirm the death, notify the physician, and start the paperwork. Call 911 instead and paramedics are generally obliged to attempt resuscitation unless a valid do-not-resuscitate order is physically in front of them — which is not what the patient wanted. Keep that paperwork somewhere it can be handed over, not in a drawer upstairs.

There is no rush after that; you can sit with the person. Hospice will ask which funeral home or cremation provider to call, and it is fine to say you have not decided yet.

At home, unexpected or unattended

Call 911. Paramedics and police will come, because an unattended death is investigated as routine, not suspicion. The death may be referred to the county medical examiner or coroner, who can take custody of the body and may order an autopsy. That is normal, and it can delay both the release of the body and the death certificate — which delays insurance claims, so warn anyone waiting on paperwork.

Do not move the body and do not tidy up. Ask the responding officer for the name and phone number of the investigator handling the case, and ask when the body will be released and to whom.

In a hospital, nursing home, or memory care

Staff handle pronouncement and the initial paperwork. They will ask which funeral home to release the body to, and they may raise organ or tissue donation and, occasionally, a hospital autopsy for their own review. You can say no to that request, and you can ask for time alone in the room. Collect belongings before you leave — hearing aids, dentures, glasses, jewelry — and get a receipt for anything the facility keeps.

Away from home or out of the country

Local authorities take custody where the death happened, and a funeral home there coordinates with one at home. A death abroad is reported to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, which issues a Consular Report of Death Abroad — the document U.S. banks and insurers will want. Repatriating remains is expensive, so ask about local cremation and transporting ashes instead, and check for travel insurance or a credit card benefit covering it.

Whatever the setting

Write down the date and time of death, and the name of whoever pronounced it. Call the two or three people who must not find out from anyone else. If the person wanted to donate organs or tissue, say so immediately, because that window is measured in hours. And you do not have to choose a funeral home in the first hour — hospitals and facilities can hold a body for a period, and no one can force a decision out of you that night.

The first days

Choose a funeral home or cremation provider

Call three. The FTC Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to quote prices over the phone if you ask, and to hand you an itemized written General Price List in person. It also lets you buy items individually rather than as a package, so you can decline the casket, the limousine, or the viewing without losing the rest. Prices for identical services vary widely inside one city, and nobody volunteers that. Our guide to what a funeral actually costs breaks down the line items, direct cremation explained covers the cheapest route, and if money is the immediate problem read who pays for a funeral when there is no money before you sign anything.

Order death certificates — more than you think

The funeral home usually files the death certificate with the state or county vital records office, after a physician, hospice, or the medical examiner completes the cause of death. Certified copies typically cost roughly $10 to $30 each depending on the state, and most banks, insurers, and pension plans want their own certified original rather than a photocopy.

Do not guess the number — count it. One for each life insurance policy, each bank or brokerage account held in the deceased's name alone, each pension or annuity, the mortgage company, each vehicle title, any real estate transfer, the probate court, a VA claim, plus two spares. Ordering more later is possible but slower.

Notify Social Security — and confirm it happened

Funeral homes very often report the death to Social Security as a courtesy, and families assume it has been done. Ask the funeral director directly whether they filed it, and then call Social Security yourself at 1-800-772-1213 to confirm the death is on record. Assuming is how survivors end up receiving payments they later have to give back. While you are on the phone, ask about the one-time $255 lump-sum death payment and, more importantly, about monthly survivor benefits, which are usually the far larger sum. The Social Security death benefit explained covers who qualifies and the two-year filing window.

Secure the home, the pets, and the paperwork

Lock the house and change nothing else. Secure firearms, cash, jewelry, and prescription medication. Have the mail collected or forwarded, because an overflowing mailbox advertises an empty house. Arrange pet care immediately and check the will for any instruction about them. Set the thermostat safely, clear the refrigerator, stop deliveries.

Then find the documents: the will or trust, any prepaid funeral contract, insurance policies, deeds and vehicle titles, the military discharge paper (a DD-214 or equivalent) for a veteran, the marriage certificate, any divorce decree, the last tax return, and a list of accounts. Do not let anyone take belongings home as a keepsake yet, however well meant — those items are part of the estate.

Tell people, and write the notice

Pick one family member to be the point of contact so the same phone is not ringing all day. If you are publishing a notice, our guide to writing an obituary lists the details you should deliberately leave out — a published notice plus a home address plus a service time is useful to burglars and identity thieves.

The first weeks

Employer, pension, and union

Call the human resources department, or the pension plan directly if the person was retired, and ask in writing for a list of every benefit payable on death. That commonly includes final wages and unused paid time off, group life insurance, accidental death coverage, a retirement plan balance payable to a named beneficiary, and sometimes a small death benefit nobody mentions unless asked. Ask about continuing health coverage for a surviving spouse and children. Public employees often have a death benefit through their retirement system, separate from any insurance.

Social Security payments after the death

This one catches families. Social Security benefits are not payable for the month in which a person dies, even if they died on the last day of the month. Because benefits are paid the month after they are earned, the payment that arrives in the month of death is generally for the previous month and is normally kept — but any payment for the month of death or later must be returned. If direct deposits continue, Social Security will ask the bank to send them back. Do not spend that money, and confirm the specifics with Social Security rather than with a relative who thinks they remember the rule.

Insurance claims

Call each life insurer, ask for a claim form, and send a certified death certificate. The named beneficiary on the policy controls who is paid, regardless of what the will says. If you suspect a policy exists but cannot find it, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners runs a free Life Insurance Policy Locator that searches participating companies. Also check for coverage nobody thinks of: an old group policy from a former employer, a credit union or association benefit, and mortgage or credit card credit life.

Banks, credit, and the three bureaus

Notify the banks. A jointly held account normally continues for the surviving owner; an account in the deceased's name alone is frozen until an estate representative is appointed or a small-estate procedure is used. Using a joint debit card as if nothing happened can create a real problem later, so ask the bank what it wants.

Send a copy of the death certificate to all three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — and ask each to place a deceased notice on the file. Request the credit report at the same time; it is the most reliable way to find accounts nobody knew about. And be clear: you are not personally responsible for the deceased's debts because you are related to them.

Cancel, but not everything

Cancel or transfer the driver's license or state ID at the motor vehicle office, the passport, voter registration, subscriptions, memberships, the phone plan, and streaming services. Do not cancel homeowners insurance on a house that still needs covering — tell the insurer the property is now unoccupied, because most policies treat a vacant home differently and coverage can lapse without notice. Same with auto insurance on a car that still exists.

Expect scam calls. Published notices are harvested, and survivors get calls about debts that were never owed. You are entitled to ask any collector to put the claim in writing.

The first months

Probate, or not

Probate is the court process for transferring what the person owned in their own name alone. Whether it is required depends on your state and on how assets were titled — life insurance with a named beneficiary, retirement accounts, payable-on-death bank accounts, jointly held property, and assets in a living trust generally pass outside probate entirely. Many states also have a simplified small-estate affidavit. A named executor applies to the court for authority to act, and the estate usually needs its own federal tax ID number. Court self-help centers and clerks can explain the process, but only an attorney can advise on your particular estate.

Taxes

A final individual income tax return is generally required for the year of death, and an estate that earns income may need its own return. Federal estate tax applies only to very large estates and most families never encounter it, but some states impose their own estate or inheritance tax with far lower thresholds. Those thresholds change, so confirm current rules with a tax professional or the IRS.

Close it out

Pay valid debts from estate funds in the order your state requires, not in the order the loudest creditor demands. Retitle vehicles and real estate, close accounts once claims are paid, and deal with digital life — memorialize or close online accounts, and download photos before an account lapses and takes them with it. Then update your own will, beneficiary designations, and coverage, because you have just seen exactly what gets left behind. If the gap that showed up was funeral money, our funeral planning checklist is the place to start.

What can safely wait

Clothes and belongings. Thank-you notes. The headstone — many cemeteries will not set a marker until the ground has settled anyway, and ordering one four months later costs no more. Scattering ashes. Selling the house. Any large financial decision, and especially any decision a salesperson is urging on you in the first month. Grief makes people agreeable, and there is no deadline on most of this list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the funeral home notify Social Security for us?

Usually they offer to, but never assume it happened. Ask the funeral director directly whether they filed the report, then call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 to confirm the death is on record. If the report is missed, benefit payments keep arriving and the survivor has to return them later, sometimes after the money has been spent.

How many certified death certificates should we order?

It depends on how many institutions are involved, so count rather than guess. Allow one for each life insurance policy, each bank or brokerage account held in the deceased's name alone, each pension or annuity, the mortgage company, each vehicle title, any real estate transfer, the probate court, and a VA claim, then add two spares. Copies typically cost roughly $10 to $30 each, and most institutions insist on a certified original rather than a photocopy.

Am I responsible for my parent's credit card debt?

No. Debts belong to the estate, not to relatives, and you do not inherit a credit card balance by being someone's child. Collectors sometimes imply otherwise. The exceptions are debts you personally co-signed or guaranteed, accounts where you were a joint owner rather than an authorized user, and in some states a spouse's liability for certain joint obligations. Never pay a deceased person's debt out of your own money before the estate is sorted out.

Should we close the bank account or stop the direct deposit ourselves?

No. Do not close the account or try to reverse a deposit yourself. Report the death to Social Security and to the bank, then leave the account open long enough for the agency to reclaim anything it is owed. Benefits are not payable for the month in which a person dies, so a payment for the month of death or later has to go back, and Social Security normally asks the bank to return it directly. Closing the account first turns an automatic reversal into a bill addressed to the estate.

Do we need a lawyer, and is probate always required?

No, not always. If everything passed by beneficiary designation, joint ownership, payable-on-death registration, or a living trust, there may be nothing to probate at all, and many states have a simplified small-estate procedure for modest estates. Talk to an attorney when there is real property to transfer, a business, a blended family, a contested will, or an estate with more debts than assets.