What to Do After a Death: A Complete Step-by-Step Checklist
A calm, step-by-step checklist for what to do after a death, from the first hours through settling the estate. Take it one step at a time.
When someone you love dies, the first steps are practical: get a legal pronouncement of death, notify close family, and make sure any dependents, pets, and the home are cared for. Everything else can follow in order over the days and weeks ahead. This checklist walks you through what to do after a death, from the first hours through settling the estate, so you can take one step at a time when focus is hard to find.
You are the person handling this, and that is a heavy role to carry while you are grieving. Think of this guide as a plan you can lean on. Nothing here needs to happen all at once, and you do not have to do it all alone.
After-death checklist at a glance
- Get a legal pronouncement of death.
- Notify immediate family and close friends.
- Secure the home, dependents, and pets.
- Locate any will, prepaid funeral plan, or written wishes.
- Choose a funeral home and arrange care of the body.
- Order certified copies of the death certificate.
- Notify Social Security and other government agencies.
- Contact banks, insurers, and the credit bureaus.
- File benefit and insurance claims.
- Decide what to do with cremated remains if cremation was chosen.
- Settle the estate and file final tax returns in the months that follow.
Free checklists for your specific loss
Grief is not one-size-fits-all, and neither are the practical steps that follow a death. The tasks, the feelings, and even who is responsible can look very different depending on who you lost. To make this easier, we created four gentle, printable checklists, each written for a specific relationship. Everyone is free to download, and each closes with quiet, pressure-free options for honoring your loved one.
After the loss of a parent.
For the adult son or daughter stepping into a practical role, often for the first time and often alongside siblings. It walks through the first days, estate and benefit steps, and how to care for a surviving parent
After the loss of a spouse.
For a surviving spouse or partner carrying both deep grief and a household you once shared. It covers survivor benefits, retitling joint accounts, and why it helps to give the biggest decisions time.
After the loss of a child.
A gentle, low-pressure guide with far less paperwork and far more room to grieve, including support for other children and a note for families navigating pregnancy or infant loss.
After the loss of a sibling.
For a grieving brother or sister whose role may vary, whether you are handling arrangements or supporting your sibling's spouse, children, or your parents.
If none of these fits your situation exactly, the general steps below apply to almost any loss. Take them at your own pace.
What do you do first when someone dies?
The first step is to get an official pronouncement of death from someone with legal authority. If your loved one died in a hospital, nursing facility, or hospice, the staff or hospice nurse will handle the pronouncement. If the death happened at home and was unexpected, call 911 so a medical professional can pronounce the death, which is a legal prerequisite before the body can be moved.
Once the pronouncement is handled, notify immediate family and a few close friends. You do not have to make every call yourself; ask one or two people to help spread word so you are not repeating the hardest news dozens of times.
Then take care of anything time-sensitive at home. Secure the residence if your loved one lived alone, arrange care for pets, and check on any dependents. If the death was sudden, hospital or medical staff may also raise the question of organ and tissue donation, and having any donor wishes on hand (often noted on a driver's license or in an advance directive) helps you answer quickly. USA.gov offers a plain-language overview of these early steps.
Who do you need to notify after a death?
You need to notify family and close friends first, then the person's employer, and then the government agencies and businesses they dealt with. Most of the official notifications can wait until you have certified death certificates in hand, so there is no need to make every call in the first day.
A helpful way to stay organized is to keep a running list with reference numbers, since almost every organization will ask for the same details: the person's full name, date of birth, date of death, and Social Security number. Here is a simple way to think about the order:
| Notify | When | What they need from you |
|---|---|---|
| Family and close friends | First hours | Nothing formal |
| Employer | First days | Date of death, benefit questions |
| Social Security Administration | First days to weeks | Name, Social Security number, dates |
| Banks, insurers, credit bureaus | First weeks | Certified death certificate |
| Utilities, subscriptions, memberships | First weeks to months | Account details, death certificate |
The Social Security Administration explains that funeral homes usually report a death to them on your behalf, but confirming it was done is ultimately the family's responsibility.
How do you arrange a funeral or cremation?
To arrange a funeral or cremation, first check for any prepaid plan or written wishes, then choose a funeral home or provider to carry out those wishes. Look for a preplanned arrangement, a note in the will, or a conversation you remember, because knowing whether your loved one wanted burial or cremation shapes nearly every decision that follows.
If there are no written instructions, the next of kin typically decides. Funeral homes are required by the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule to give you itemized pricing, so you can ask for a general price list and choose only the services you want. Take your time comparing options; you are allowed to say no to add-ons that do not feel right for your family or your budget.
Once you select a provider, they will arrange transportation of the body and can often order certified death certificates on your behalf, which saves you a step.
What documents do you need after someone dies?
The core documents you need after a death are the certified death certificate, the will or trust, insurance policies, and the person's financial and identity records. The certified death certificate is the single most important one, because banks, insurers, courts, and government agencies all require it before they will act.
Gather these as soon as you can locate them:
- Will or trust documents, which name the executor and govern how assets are distributed.
- Life insurance policies, both individual and any provided through an employer.
- Financial records, including bank statements, investment and retirement account documents, and recent tax returns.
- Identity documents, such as the Social Security number, birth certificate, and marriage certificate, which are needed for benefit claims and account transfers.
People often keep these in a desk, a home safe, a filing cabinet, or a safe-deposit box. If the documents are in a safe-deposit box you cannot access, you may need a death certificate and proof that you are the executor to open it.
How many death certificates do you need?
Most families should order 10 or more certified copies of the death certificate. Each bank, insurer, and government agency typically requires its own original certified copy rather than a photocopy, so copies get used up quickly across accounts and claims.
You can obtain certified copies through the funeral home or directly from the vital records office in the state where the death occurred. Certified copies generally cost about $10 to $30 each, depending on the state, and many offices offer a discount when you order several at once. It is easier and often cheaper to order enough at the start than to request more later.
What are the financial and legal steps after a death?
The financial and legal steps after a death follow a general sequence: identify who is responsible for the estate, notify financial institutions, and then file the benefits and claims the survivors are entitled to. Some of these tasks have real deadlines, so it helps to know the order.
What does an executor do after a death?
The executor is the person named in the will to manage the settling of the estate. Their core responsibilities include locating and filing the will, inventorying assets, paying valid debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to the heirs. If there is no will, a probate court appoints an administrator to play the same role.
If you are the executor, you do not have to do everything personally. Many executors work with an attorney or accountant for the more complex parts, and that is a common and reasonable choice.
How do you handle bank accounts and bills?
To handle bank accounts and bills, notify each financial institution of the death and provide a certified death certificate. Accounts held jointly with right of survivorship generally pass to the surviving owner, while accounts in the deceased person's name alone typically move into the estate.
Keep essential services running while you sort things out, and pause automatic payments for anything no longer needed. Watch for recurring charges, since subscriptions and memberships can quietly continue for months if no one cancels them.
What benefits and claims should you file?
Survivors may be eligible for several benefits, so it is worth checking each one. These commonly include life insurance payouts, Social Security survivors' benefits, and any pension, retirement, or veterans' benefits.
Contact the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 to report the death and ask about a possible one-time death payment and monthly survivors benefits for an eligible spouse or minor children. Contact the person's employer about retirement plans, life insurance, and whether a surviving spouse or child can continue health coverage under COBRA. If your loved one was a veteran, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers burial and survivor benefits worth asking about.
How do you cancel accounts and protect against identity theft?
To cancel accounts and guard against identity theft, close or transfer the person's financial and digital accounts and notify the three nationwide credit bureaus. Reporting a death to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion places a deceased notice on the person's credit file, which helps prevent fraud in their name.
Work through utilities, phone and internet service, streaming and subscription services, and online accounts, canceling or transferring each. The Federal Trade Commission also offers guidance on how to handle any debts the person left behind, so you know which are your responsibility and which are not.
What can you do with cremated remains?
If your loved one was cremated, you have several options for their cremated remains, and there is no single right choice. Common paths include scattering in a meaningful place, burial or interment of an urn, placement in a columbarium niche, keeping the cremated remains at home, and solidification, which transforms the cremated remains into smooth stones you can hold. These options can also be combined; some families scatter a portion and keep the rest.
Many people are surprised by how long this decision can take, and that is completely normal. It is common to keep cremated remains at home for months or even years while deciding what feels right. There is no deadline and no wrong answer.
Solidification is one option worth knowing about. Parting Stone pioneered a patented process that transforms virtually all of a person's cremated remains into 40 to 80+ smooth stones you can hold, carry, display, scatter, share, or place wherever feels meaningful. More than 14,000 families have chosen this path as a way to keep their loved one close in a form that feels comforting to touch. If it speaks to you, you can learn how solidification works whenever you are ready. It remains an option at any point, so there is no need to decide now.
What tasks come in the weeks and months after a death?
In the weeks and months after a death, the remaining work centers on settling the estate: managing probate, filing final tax returns, distributing belongings, and updating titles and beneficiaries. This phase moves at its own pace, and much of it can wait until the most urgent tasks are behind you.
A few items to keep on your radar:
- File the final income tax return. The Internal Revenue Service explains that a deceased person's final return is generally prepared the same way as if they were alive, reporting income up to the date of death and due by the usual April deadline.
- Update titles and beneficiaries. Transfer or retitle property, vehicles, and accounts, and check beneficiary designations on any policies or retirement accounts.
- Distribute personal belongings. Follow the will where one exists, and give the family time and space for this step.
- Keep good records. Hold onto the final tax return and supporting documents for several years in case questions arise.
How do you take care of yourself while handling everything?
Taking care of yourself matters as much as the checklist, because you are grieving and managing logistics at the same time. Give yourself permission to rest, to delegate tasks to people who offer, and to let some things wait.
Grief has no set timeline, and the practical work does not have to compete with it. Lean on friends and family, and consider connecting with a grief support group or counselor if you would like more support. Organizations like local hospice bereavement programs and national grief nonprofits offer resources at no cost. You are carrying something hard, and it is okay to ask for help along the way.
Frequently asked questions
What is the very first thing to do when someone dies?
The first thing to do is get a legal pronouncement of death. Hospital, hospice, or nursing staff handle this automatically, and for an unexpected death at home you call 911 so a medical professional can pronounce the death before the body is moved.
Who should you notify first after a death?
Notify immediate family and close friends first, then the person's employer, and then government agencies and financial institutions once you have certified death certificates in hand.
How many death certificates should you order?
Most families should order 10 or more certified copies, because banks, insurers, and government agencies each typically require their own original.
Do you have to report a death to Social Security?
Funeral homes usually report a death to the Social Security Administration, but confirming it was done is the family's responsibility. You can also call the SSA directly at 1-800-772-1213.
What are your options for cremated remains?
Options include scattering, burial or interment, placement in a columbarium, keeping the cremated remains at home, and solidification into smooth stones. There is no deadline to decide, and options can be combined.
