The death of a loved one can be very overwhelming for many reasons. In addition to dealing with emotional loss and grief, you may find yourself totally unprepared to deal with the practical matters that must be addressed. In order to assist with this process, I have assembled the following check-list of things that should be done within 30 days of death.

 Action Items at Time of Death:

• Get a legal pronouncement of death.

  • If the death was unexpected, contact the police and do not move the body (except during CPR). If a do-not-resuscitate document exists, present it to the paramedics. Without one, paramedics will generally start emergency procedures and, except where permitted to pronounce death, take the person to an emergency room for a doctor to make the declaration. The police or the hospital will notify the County Coroner’s office.

  • If the death was expected and the decedent was in the hospital or being cared for at home, the decedent’s doctor or hospice care provider will usually call the County Coroner’s office to arrange for transportation of the decedent’s remains. The mortuary will normally arrange transportation to the decedent’s final resting place.

• Begin contacting family and friends and ask them to help you contact others. If you need to contact someone in the military, the American Red Cross will assist with contacting someone currently serving.

• Contact the decedent’s employer to inform them of the death and request information about benefits and any pay due. Ask whether the decedent had a life-insurance policy through the company.

• Verify disposition of remains. Transportation of the decedent’s remains will usually occur according to the hospital administrator’s or coroner’s instructions.

• Look for the decedent’s instructions regarding death.  Check to see if they had a prepaid burial plan or if they left any written instructions regarding a funeral or burial. Check to see if the decedent had a will or trust. If so, burial instructions may be contained in or with those documents.

• Handle care of dependents and pets. Check to see if the decedent had a trust or will that contains instructions regarding the care of minor children and/or pets.

Action Items for the week immediately following death:

• Arrange for funeral and burial or cremation according to decedent’s wishes (if any are known). Go to mortuary with a trusted family member or friend to make funeral arrangements. Arrangements can include transferring the remains to another location, burial or cremation. If the decedent was a funeral society member, contact the funeral society to determine the availability of cremation or burial cost discounts. If the decedent was on public assistance, determine if benefits include a burial costs contribution. Contact the local Department of Social Services. Do this before contracting for any burial services, as funeral costs may be limited to qualify for financial support. The mortuary can do this for you. If the decedent was in the military or was a dependent child or spouse of someone in the military, contact the VA office to determine the availability of burial benefits. The mortuary can do this for you. If the person belonged to a fraternal or religious group, contact that organization to see if it has burial benefits or conducts funeral services.

• Prepare an obituary and coordinate a post-funeral reception.

• Ask a friend or relative to keep an eye on the person’s home, answer the phone, collect mail, throw food out, and water plants.

• If the decedent had a Power of Attorney, trust or conservatorship, notify the agent, the trustee or the conservator.

Action items for the weeks following death:

• Order death certificates. Your funeral home or mortuary can order them for you. Order multiple copies because you will need one for the court, for each of decedent’s financial institutions, life insurers etc. If you need additional copies you can order them from the local county recorder’s office.

• Contact professionals to assist with the administration of the estate. (This should be performed by the person named as the executor of the decedent’s estate in a will, or the successor trustee if the decedent had a trust.)

  • Contact a probate or estate planning attorney to learn how decedent’s assets transfer and for assistance with will or trust administration. 

  • Contact an accountant or tax preparer to determine the necessity of filing final income tax, or trust or estate tax returns.

  • Contact investment professionals to obtain decedent’s holding information and to help you identify assets.

  • Contact banks to obtain account information and locate safe deposit boxes.

  • Contact insurance agents to locate life insurance policies and obtain claim forms.

• If relevant, contact social services and Veteran’s Affairs to determine if there are any benefits and to stop monthly checks and seek possible death benefits.

• Contact pension plan administrators to stop checks and request claim forms.

• Contact utility, cable, telephone and internet service providers to discontinue or change payee of service. Contact newspapers, magazines and internet-based subscriptions to discontinue or change payee of services. Contact the post office to request a change of address, so mail is forwarded to decedent’s personal representative or trustee.

• Cancel credit cards. To prevent the unauthorized use of credit cards, notify all credit card companies of the death and destroy all physical cards. If the funeral home has not done so, notify one of the credit reporting agencies of the death and request a copy of the decedent’s credit report, which can be used to determine whether there are any creditors that need to be notified of the decedent’s death or recurring monthly charges/memberships that need to be cancelled. 

• Open the Safe Deposit Box. If the decedent had a safe deposit box, anyone else also named on the box may open it at any time. Nobody else has the authority to do so - unless they are listed as a successor trustee and the safe deposit box was re-titled to the trust. However, most banks will open the box for heirs seeking a will, burial plot deed or burial instructions.

• Manage digital assets. Close online and social media accounts.  If the decedent has not left a list of accounts and login information, you will have to contact individual service providers to notify them of the death and work with them to close the accounts.

• Protect against thieves. Be particularly careful about accepting telephone or mail solicitation during this time. Carefully review all incoming invoices and properly secure all tangible assets. If the decedent had a will or trust, only the executor or successor trustee may distribute assets, including tangible personal property, to beneficiaries in accordance with the wishes of the decedent.

The best way to spare your grieving loved ones from unnecessary stress upon your death is to have an estate plan in place that clearly sets forth your wishes and designates the person(s) who you would like to make sure that your wishes are carried out. In addition, make sure that the person(s) you have chosen is aware that they have been designated, they are willing and able to take on such a responsibility and that they have copies of all important documents and access to the originals. Reach out if you would like to discuss how you can protect your legacy.