What To Do When Someone Dies

Somebody has to handle it. This is how.

Somebody has to make the calls. Somebody has to find the will, notify Social Security, cancel the phone, decide what to do with a house full of things, and answer the same questions from eleven different offices. Usually that somebody is also grieving.

This is a workbook, not a book to read. You do not have to start at the beginning, and you do not have to do it alone.

What is actually urgent, and what is not

The first page names the only three things that matter in the first days. Everything else can wait, and the book says so. It also tells you the one thing almost every family underestimates: order ten to fifteen certified copies of the death certificate, because nearly every bank, insurer and government office wants an original.

A record, not just a list

Half of this book is a place to write down what you have already done. Every call gets a line: the date, who you spoke to, what they said, what they need next. Nobody repeats a task, nobody misses one, and when a relative asks what has been handled, you can show them.

Twelve printed tabs, findable with the book closed

Each section has a tab printed on the edge of the page, at a different height. Close the book and you can see all twelve. Open it straight to the one you need.

Written for the United States

Social Security and Medicare. Medicaid. VA benefits and the DD-214. Probate. The state DMV for vehicle titles. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Life insurance claims, retirement accounts, and the final tax return.

What is inside

• The First Few Days. The short list, and the facts every office will ask you for.
• Finding the Paperwork. Where to look, and what to do if there is no will.
• Who to Notify. Government, money, everything else, and a page for every call.
• Benefits and Claims. Life insurance, Social Security, VA, pensions. None of it is automatic.
• Accounts and Bills. What to keep paying, what to close, and in what order.
• Property and Belongings. The house, the car, and who is taking what.
• Digital and Subscriptions. Email first, then everything that keeps charging a card.
• Probate and Taxes. A place to record deadlines, case numbers and who is handling it.
• The Service. Arranging it, and who did what.
• The Obituary and Notices. The formula, and room to draft it.
• The Running Record. What happened, when, and what is still open.
• For You. The part of this that is not paperwork.

A deliberate omission

There is no place in this book to write passwords or full account numbers. Record the last four digits and where the full details are kept. A notebook that carries this much information about a person should not also be a key to their money.

8.5 by 11 inches and 116 pages, with room to write on every page.

A checklist and a record, not legal advice. Settling an estate is governed by the law of the state where the person lived. For probate, taxes, and anything contested, work with a licensed attorney in that state.