Educational guide — not legal, medical, or grief counseling advice. If you’re reading this because someone close to you just died: we’re sorry. Take your time. Almost nothing on this list is more urgent than it feels.
In the first 24 to 48 hours
Get a legal pronouncement of death
In a hospital or hospice, this happens automatically and someone will walk you through what’s next. At home, with an expected death under hospice care, call the hospice. With an unexpected death at home, call 911 — paramedics and law enforcement will handle the legal pronouncement.
You’ll need a legal pronouncement before any funeral home will accept the body.
Notify the closest family
There’s no script. “I have hard news. [Name] died this morning.” Be direct. If the person who died had children or a current spouse, those people should hear before anyone else if at all possible.
Decide where the body goes
You’ll need to choose a funeral home or cremation provider. If the person had pre-arrangements, contact them. If not:
- A hospital or hospice may hold the body for a few days while you decide.
- A funeral home or crematory will come pick the body up once you call.
- You don’t have to commit to services or a casket on this call. You’re just authorizing transport and short-term care.
If the family doesn’t have a funeral home in mind, take a moment to look at prices online before calling. Costs vary by thousands of dollars between providers (see How Much Does a Funeral Cost?).
Find any pre-planning documents
Look for:
- A will (often in a safe, a fire box, or a desk drawer — sometimes at the attorney’s office).
- An advance directive / living will (which guides care decisions if the person isn’t quite dead yet).
- Pre-paid funeral arrangements.
- Organ donor cards or driver’s license designations (organ donation has to happen FAST after death — usually within hours).
Notify the most essential agencies
- If the person was employed: their employer’s HR (they have a payroll cut-off and may have employer life insurance).
- If they were a caregiver for someone else (a child, a parent, a disabled relative): make sure that person is being cared for.
- If they were caring for pets: someone has to take the animals.
- If they were due to fly somewhere in the next few days: cancel.
In the first week
Hold the funeral, memorial, or cremation
You don’t have to hold a service this week. A lot of families now do a direct cremation within a few days and a separate memorial weeks or months later. There’s no rule. Whatever the family can sustain emotionally and financially is fine.
For practical guidance on what services cost, see our How Much Does a Funeral Cost? guide. The big-picture honest advice: shop around, decline upsells, use the FTC Funeral Rule rights you have.
Get certified death certificates — and get more than you think you need
This is the single most repeated piece of advice from estate attorneys: get at least 10 certified copies of the death certificate. You’ll need one for almost every account, agency, and institution you contact: each bank, each brokerage, each retirement plan, the Social Security Administration, the life insurance company, the title office, the IRS, the state revenue department.
You can get them through the funeral home (easiest) or through your state’s vital records office. They typically cost $10–$25 each. The funeral home can usually request a batch on your behalf.
Notify Social Security
If the person was receiving Social Security or Medicare, the Social Security Administration needs to know. The funeral home usually reports the death automatically, but follow up to make sure — and remember:
- The month of death payment may need to be returned (SSA pays for the month after you’ve lived through it).
- A surviving spouse may be eligible for survivor benefits.
- Medicare coverage ends at death.
Call SSA at 1-800-772-1213, or visit a local office.
Notify any pension administrator
Pensions, 401(k) administrators, and IRA custodians need a copy of the death certificate. Surviving spouses often have rollover rights; non-spouse beneficiaries have specific timelines.
Secure the home
If the deceased lived alone, secure the property. Lock everything, take in mail, take in newspapers, set timers on a couple of lights, ask a neighbor to keep an eye out. Cancel any subscriptions that broadcast their absence (newspaper, lawn service, etc.) only if you can do it without leaving the house obviously vacant.
If the home is sitting empty for more than a few days, contact the homeowner’s insurance company — many policies have a “vacancy clause” that limits coverage if the home is unoccupied for 30+ days.
In the first month
Locate and review the will
Find the original will. The executor named in the will is the one responsible for getting the estate settled. If there’s no will, the closest qualified relative typically files to become the administrator.
The original will, plus a certified death certificate, gets filed with the probate court in the county where the person lived. This usually has to happen within 30 days of death in most states; some states are stricter.
Decide if probate is even needed
Many estates don’t need a full probate:
- If almost everything passes by beneficiary designation (life insurance, retirement accounts, POD accounts) — there’s nothing to probate.
- If almost everything was held in a funded living trust — the trustee distributes it without court.
- If the estate is small enough to qualify for your state’s small-estate procedure.
- If a surviving spouse inherits everything — many states have a streamlined process.
See What Is Probate and How Does It Work? for details, and the Probate Cost by State hub for what it would cost where you live.
Notify the major institutions
In rough priority order:
- Banks — they freeze individual accounts at death; joint accounts pass to the survivor.
- Brokerages and investment accounts — same.
- Life insurance companies — file claims early; they typically pay within 30–60 days of receiving documentation.
- Mortgage and other lenders — the estate is responsible, but federal law (Garn-St. Germain) protects a surviving spouse or family member from being forced to accelerate the loan immediately.
- Auto insurance — vehicles still need coverage until they’re sold or transferred.
- Credit card companies — close the accounts; the estate handles balances.
- Utilities — transfer to the survivor or close.
- Subscriptions and memberships — gym, streaming services, magazines, professional dues.
- Voter registration and DMV — to prevent identity theft and improper voting records.
- The IRS and state revenue department — a final income tax return is due for the year of death.
- The Veterans Administration if the person was a veteran.
- The post office to forward mail.
Watch for identity theft
Deceased identity theft is real. Send a copy of the death certificate to each of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) and request a “deceased — do not issue credit” flag.
Starting probate (if needed)
If the estate has assets that don’t pass automatically (real estate in the decedent’s name alone, bank accounts with no POD beneficiary, etc.), the executor or administrator files to open probate in the county where the person lived.
Most full probate cases take 6 to 18 months, longer if contested or complex. See What Is Probate for the step-by-step.
This is the part where most families work with a probate attorney. For routine, uncontested cases, a single consultation may be enough; for anything contested or complicated, ongoing representation is usually worth the cost.
Who-to-notify checklist
A short checklist to print or save:
- [ ] Social Security Administration
- [ ] Employer (and any former employers with retained pension)
- [ ] Pension administrator
- [ ] IRA / 401(k) custodian
- [ ] Banks
- [ ] Brokerage / investment accounts
- [ ] Life insurance company
- [ ] Mortgage lender
- [ ] Auto insurance company
- [ ] Health insurance / Medicare
- [ ] Homeowners insurance
- [ ] Credit card companies
- [ ] Utilities (electric, gas, water, internet, phone)
- [ ] Subscriptions (streaming, magazines, gym, professional dues)
- [ ] Post office (mail forwarding)
- [ ] DMV (vehicle title and license cancellation)
- [ ] Voter registration
- [ ] Three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion)
- [ ] Veterans Administration (if applicable)
- [ ] Attorney (if not already involved)
- [ ] Accountant (for final tax return)
- [ ] Religious community / professional associations / clubs
A note on taking care of yourself
There’s a strong cultural expectation in the US that the surviving spouse or oldest child becomes a project manager within hours of a death. Then a financial executor. Then a real-estate negotiator. While also grieving.
You’re allowed to:
- Sleep. Most decisions on this page can wait a day or two without consequence.
- Eat. Friends will offer to bring food. Let them.
- Cry. Including in front of the funeral director, the lawyer, and the SSA representative. They have all seen this before.
- Ask for help. A friend who can sit with you while you make a phone call to a bank you don’t want to call is worth a lot.
- Say no to people offering services, products, or “the perfect casket.”
If grief is overwhelming or you’re struggling to function after a few weeks, please talk to a grief counselor or your doctor. Many hospices offer free bereavement support to families they served, sometimes for up to a year after a death.
You don’t have to do all of this. You just have to do the next thing.
Educational information only — not legal, medical, financial, or grief counseling advice. Procedures and required notifications vary by state. Sources: Social Security Administration; AARP Caregiving Resource Center; Funeral Consumers Alliance; American Bar Association Probate Resource Center.