What to do when someone dies: a checklist for the first days, weeks, and months

What to do when someone dies

In the first day: get the death legally pronounced, choose a funeral home, secure the home, and tell close family. In the first week: order certified death certificates, find the will, and report the death to Social Security. Everything involving the estate’s money and property waits until the probate court appoints a personal representative.

That last point is the one most checklists skip. Whether the person who died was a parent, a spouse, or a friend, many of the tasks below can be done by any family member. A smaller set can only be done by the executor named in the will (or the administrator the court appoints if there is no will), and only after the court has issued Letters Testamentary. The checklists are grouped by timeframe, and each item says which kind of task it is.

Family tasks vs. executor tasks

Two different people may be reading this page: a family member trying to get through the week, and the person who will end up responsible for the estate. Sometimes those are the same person; often they are not. The table shows where the line falls.

Beneficiaries of life insurance and retirement accounts are a separate case: those assets usually pass directly to the named beneficiary, who claims them from the insurer or plan administrator without going through the executor. For the full scope of the role, see what an executor actually does.

First 24 hours

These are family tasks. None of them require legal authority, and none of them should wait.

• Get a legal pronouncement of death. In a hospital, hospice, or nursing home, staff handle this. At home with no hospice involved, call 911; responders will direct what happens next.
• Tell close family. Decide who makes which calls so nobody hears it secondhand.
• Check for a prepaid funeral plan or written wishes. Look in the will, a letter of instruction, or paperwork from a funeral home before making arrangements.
• Choose a funeral home and arrange transport. The funeral home will also file the death certificate and can report the death to Social Security if you give them the Social Security number.
• Care for pets or dependents. Someone needs to take them today, even if the long-term arrangement is decided later.
• Secure the home. Lock up, take in any spare keys, and make sure valuables, medications, and documents are not accessible to visitors.
• Notify the employer, if the person was working. Ask about final pay, group life insurance, and benefits owed to survivors.
• Check for organ or body donation directives.These are time-sensitive and usually noted on a driver’s license or advance directive.

First week

Still mostly family tasks, with the executor-to-be starting to gather what the court will need.

• Order certified copies of the death certificate. The funeral home usually orders the first batch from the state vital records office; 10-15 copies is common, because banks, insurers, and agencies each want an original.
• Locate the will and any trust documents.Check the home office, a safe, the attorney who drafted it, and the safe deposit box. Do not remove anything from the box beyond the will without checking your state’s rules.
• Confirm who is named executor or personal representative. If there is no will, state law decides who can petition to be administrator.
• Report the death to Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or at a local office, unless the funeral home already did. SSA takes reports by phone or in person only, not online or by email, and passes the report on to Medicare (source: usa.gov). Details in how to notify Social Security of a death.
• Return any Social Security payment for the month of death. SSA cannot pay benefits for the month a recipient dies, so a payment received the following month must go back. For direct deposit, ask the bank to return it.
• Apply for the $255 lump-sum death payment, if eligible. It goes to a surviving spouse who qualifies, or a qualifying child if there is no spouse; apply by phone or at a local office (source: ssa.gov).
• Hold the funeral or memorial and keep every receipt. Funeral costs are typically reimbursable from the estate.
• Forward the mail through the post office. Incoming mail is how you will find accounts, bills, and subscriptions nobody knew about.
• Notify the Department of Veterans Affairs, if a veteran. Ask about burial benefits and any survivor benefits.
• Keep the utilities and homeowner’s insurance on. An empty house with the power off and a lapsed policy is a liability. Tell the insurer the owner has died so the policy is not voided for vacancy.
• Start a single folder for everything. Statements, bills, policies, deeds, titles, tax returns, and passwords, as they surface.

First month

This is where the executor’s work begins. The first items open the probate case; the rest cannot legally happen until it is open.

• File the will with the probate court. Many states require the original will to be lodged with the court within a set number of days, whether or not probate will be needed. The deadline varies by state.
• Decide whether full probate is needed. Smaller estates may qualify for a small estate affidavit instead; the threshold and waiting period vary by state.
• Hire an estate attorney if needed. Worth it when there is real property in more than one state, a business, a dispute among heirs, or no will.
• Petition the court to be appointed. The court issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without one). This is the document banks will ask for.
• Apply for an EIN for the estate. Free and immediate online at IRS.gov/EIN, or by Form SS-4. The estate needs its own tax ID; do not use the decedent’s Social Security number.
• Open an estate bank account. Bring the Letters and the EIN. Every check payable to the decedent, and every estate expense, goes through this account from now on.
• File IRS Form 56. It notifies the IRS that you are acting as fiduciary; the IRS says to file it as soon as the EIN and other details are in hand.
• Notify beneficiaries of the probate process. Most states require formal notice to heirs and beneficiaries once the case is opened.
• Gather financial records and start the inventory. Bank and brokerage statements, retirement accounts, insurance policies, deeds, vehicle titles, and the last three years of tax returns.
• Start beneficiary claims for life insurance and retirement accounts. These pass outside probate. Contact each insurer and plan administrator, provide a death certificate, and confirm the named beneficiaries.
• Notify the mortgage lender and homeowner’s insurer. Keep paying the mortgage if the estate can, so the house does not go into default while the estate is being settled.
• Cancel subscriptions and services. Streaming, memberships, phone, and anything auto-billing to a card. Keep utilities and insurance on the house.
• Secure digital accounts. Email, online banking, and any password manager. Do not delete anything yet; email is where account notices arrive.

Months 2–12

The long middle of estate administration: creditors, taxes, and assets. All of this is executor work.

• Publish notice to creditors, if required. Most states require a published notice that starts a claims window. Its length varies by state, and the estate should not be distributed before it closes.
• Request the decedent’s credit reports. This surfaces debts nobody mentioned and flags identity theft, which targets the recently deceased.
• Review creditor claims and pay valid debts from estate funds. Dispute claims that are not supported. Do not pay debts from your own money.
• Complete the inventory of assets and liabilities. Get appraisals for real estate, vehicles, jewelry, art, and collectibles. Most probate courts require a formal inventory to be filed.
• Determine which assets pass through probate and which do not. Joint accounts, payable-on-death accounts, and assets with named beneficiaries usually bypass probate.
• Retitle or transfer financial accounts to the estate. Provide the brokerage or bank with the Letters and death certificate.
• Deal with the house. Maintain it, decide whether it will be sold or transferred, and if selling, hire an agent, prepare it, and deposit proceeds into the estate account.
• Transfer or sell vehicles. Notify the DMV, keep insurance on until the title changes hands, and clear any lien.
• Address the year-of-death required minimum distribution. If the decedent had an IRA or 401(k) and was taking RMDs, the year-of-death distribution still has to be taken. Coordinate with the plan and a CPA.
• File the decedent’s final Form 1040.It is due when the return would have been due had the person lived, generally April 15 of the following year. Write “DECEASED,” the name, and the date of death across the top. If you are the court-appointed representative and attach a copy of your court certificate, you do not need Form 1310 to claim a refund. Source: IRS, Deceased person.
• File Form 1041 if the estate earns $600 or more. The estate income tax return is required once the estate has gross income of $600 or more in the tax year. For calendar-year estates it is due April 15. Source: Instructions for Form 1041.
• Check whether Form 706 applies. The federal estate tax return is required only above a filing threshold of $13,990,000 for deaths in 2025 and $15,000,000 for deaths in 2026. Most estates are well below it. Some states have their own estate or inheritance tax with lower thresholds. Source: IRS, Estate tax.
• Keep the accounting current. Every dollar in and out of the estate account, with receipts. The court and the beneficiaries will both want to see it.
• Update beneficiaries. Regular updates prevent the calls, and the suspicion, that silence produces.

Closing out

Once the creditor window has closed, debts and taxes are paid, and any property has been sold or transferred, the estate can be distributed and closed.

• Prepare the final accounting for beneficiaries. What came in, what went out, and what is left to distribute.
• Obtain beneficiary approvals, receipts, and releases. A signed release from each beneficiary protects you after the estate is closed.
• Distribute the remaining assets according to the will or, with no will, according to state intestacy law.
• Give each beneficiary the tax basis on inherited assets. They will need it when they eventually sell.
• File the final probate documents with the court and ask to be discharged as personal representative.
• Close the estate bank account. Only after the last check has cleared and the court has approved the closing.
• Keep the records. Retain the estate file for several years in case of a tax question or a late claim; ask your CPA how long.

The paperwork, in one place

Every item above generates a document. These are the ones that get asked for repeatedly, and who asks for them.

The IRS collects its guidance for this situation in Publication 559, Survivors, Executors and Administrators. For a full task list by category rather than by timeframe, see the complete executor checklist. Where a decision turns on your state’s rules, a probate attorney in that state is the right call.