What to do when someone dies: a week-by-week checklist

This checklist puts the usual tasks in the order they tend to come up, with links to the official sources. Treat the timing as a rough guide, not a deadline. If an attorney is handling the estate, ask them about anything involving the estate's money or property.

The first day or two

• Get help with the immediate steps. If the person was in hospice care, call the hospice team. They'll walk you through what happens next. If the death was sudden or unexpected, call 911.
• Tell the closest family and friends. Ask one steady person to help you make the calls.
• Look after anyone who depended on the person. Children, an adult who relied on their care, and pets.
• Secure the home and car. Lock up, and bring in the mail.
• Look for written wishes before you choose a funeral home. Check desks and file boxes for a prepaid funeral plan, cemetery paperwork or a note about final wishes.
• Know your rights when you call funeral homes. Under the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule, funeral homes must give you prices over the phone if you ask, and must give you a General Price List to keep. You can buy only the goods and services you want, and a funeral home can't refuse to handle a casket or urn you bought somewhere else. The FTC also notes that no state law requires routine embalming for every death.

Week 1

• Order certified copies of the death certificate. The funeral home usually helps with this. You can also order from the vital records office in the state where the death happened: USA.gov explains how, and the CDC keeps a state-by-state list of vital records offices. Only certain family members, such as a spouse, children or siblings, may be able to order certified copies. Before you order, list every place that will want one (banks, insurers, pension plans, the motor vehicles office) and ask each whether it needs a certified copy or will accept a photocopy.
• Let Social Security know. According to the Social Security Administration, funeral homes generally report deaths to SSA, so give the funeral director the person's Social Security number. If no funeral home is involved, call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) with the person's name, Social Security number, date of birth and date of death. A one-time payment of $255 may go to a surviving spouse, or to certain children if there's no spouse, and some family members may qualify for monthly survivor benefits.
• Don't spend a Social Security payment that arrives after the death. Benefits are paid a month behind, and SSA says the payment for the month of death and any later months must be returned (SSA: Survivors Benefits). Ask SSA or the bank before you close the account it's deposited into.
• Find the will, if there is one. Look where the person kept important papers. If you know which attorney prepared it, call their office. A will usually names an executor (some states say "personal representative"), the person who handles the estate.
• Plan the service. Friends often want a job. Give them one: food, flowers, airport pickups.
• Write the obituary, if you want one. Stick to the facts. Consider leaving out the full birth date and the mother's maiden name, since both are often used to verify identity.
• Start a call log. Every time you call a company or agency, write down the date, who you spoke with and what they said.

Week 2

• Call the employer, if the person was working. Ask about the final paycheck, group life insurance, retirement plans, and health coverage for family members on the person's plan. A covered employee's death is one of the events that can let a spouse and dependent children keep employer coverage through COBRA.
• Contact life insurance and annuity companies. You'll usually need the policy number (or the person's Social Security number) and a certified death certificate. If you're not sure which policies exist, see our guide to finding a lost life insurance policy or unclaimed money.
• If the person served in the military, look into VA burial and memorial benefits, such as a burial allowance, burial in a national cemetery and a headstone or marker. You'll likely need their discharge papers, often a form called the DD-214. If you can't find it, next of kin can request a copy from the National Archives.
• Notify banks and credit card companies. Before you close anything, check what's paid from each account automatically (the mortgage, insurance premiums, utilities) so nothing important lapses. Joint accounts and accounts with a named payable-on-death beneficiary may pass directly to that person. Ask each bank how it handles this.
• Report the death to the credit bureaus. The three nationwide bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. A death notice on the person's credit report makes it harder for anyone to open credit in their name. TransUnion says whichever bureau you contact will notify the other two. Expect to send a copy of the death certificate along with the person's legal name, Social Security number, date of birth and date of death.

Weeks 3 and 4

• Work through the government list. USA.gov's page on agencies to notify when someone dies covers Social Security and Medicare, the motor vehicles office, the IRS, passports, state benefits, voter registration, veterans and military retiree benefits, and federal employee benefits. For most of them you'll need the person's Social Security number and a certified death certificate. If the person was a retired federal employee, report the death to the Office of Personnel Management.
• Sort out the mail. If you lived with the person, you can keep receiving their mail at that address. Otherwise, the Postal Service says only the appointed executor or administrator, with documented proof of that authority, can change the person's address, and it has to be done in person at a Post Office. A death certificate alone isn't enough (USPS). Mail is how families find accounts and policies nobody knew about, so keep an eye on it for a few months.
• Cut down the junk mail. USPS points to the Deceased Do Not Contact list at DMAchoice.org. It says advertising mail should drop off within about three months.
• Sort out utilities, subscriptions and memberships. Decide what to keep, transfer or cancel. Bank and card statements will show the recurring charges.
• Go slowly with debts. The FTC says family members usually don't have to pay a deceased relative's debts from their own money. Debts are paid from what the person left behind, their estate. There are exceptions, such as a cosigner, or a spouse in a community property state. Read the FTC's guide, Debts and Deceased Relatives, and ask the estate's attorney before you pay anything yourself.
• Handle digital accounts. Phones, email, photos and social media each have their own process. Our guide to Apple, Google and Facebook legacy settings explains what each company offers, including what families can do when no one was named.

Months 2 and 3

• Find out whether probate is needed. Probate is the court process for settling an estate. Whether it's needed, and how it works, depends on the state and on how the person's property was owned. The executor or the estate's attorney usually leads it.
• Make an inventory. List accounts, property, vehicles, policies and digital accounts. Note what was in the person's name alone and what was joint.
• File for benefits. Life insurance, pensions, annuities, employer benefits, Social Security survivor benefits and VA benefits each have their own forms and timelines.
• Search for money nobody knew about. USA.gov notes that state governments hold most unclaimed money. Search every state where the person lived. MissingMoney.com is a free multi-state search sponsored by the national association of state unclaimed property administrators (unclaimed.org). Searching and claiming through official sites is free.

Later in the first year

• File the final income tax return. The IRS says to prepare a deceased person's final return much as you would if they were alive, on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, reporting income up to the date of death. It's generally due when their return would have been due, usually April 15 of the year after the death. Claiming a refund may take Form 1310. IRS Publication 559 covers survivors, executors and administrators.
• Ask whether the estate needs its own return. The IRS says an estate with more than $600 of gross income in a year must file Form 1041, and needs its own tax ID number first. This is a good moment to bring in a tax professional.
• Memorialize or close social media accounts, if you haven't already.
• Send thank-you notes. There's no deadline, and two lines is plenty.
• Take care of you. Grief isn't a task you finish. Eat something, sleep when you can, and let people help. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

This guide is general information, not legal, tax, investment or insurance advice. Laws differ by state, and agency rules change, so check the linked official sources. For decisions about an estate, talk with a licensed professional in your state. Last reviewed October 2026.