Finance and Law

What to Do After Someone Dies: A Simple Checklist to Follow

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It&&num;8217&semi;s never easy when a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;legal-options-funeral-cost&sol;">loved one passes away<&sol;a>&period; But even in the most difficult of times&comma; it still helps to know what actions need to be taken&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">We all experience death at some point or another&period; But knowing what to do after someone dies is not necessarily common knowledge&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Many people wonder&colon; what do you have to do legally&quest; What arrangements need to be made&quest; And what if they didn&&num;8217&semi;t leave a will&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In this article&comma; we&&num;8217&semi;ll help set your mind at ease&period; Follow along with this simple checklist to take care of everything that needs to get done&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Contact Immediate Family Members Right Away<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It&&num;8217&semi;s hard to know what to do legally after someone dies&period; But the first step has nothing to do with the law&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Letting those closest to the deceased know that they are no longer with us is an important but necessary step early on&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Of course&comma; different circumstances call for different actions&period; If&comma; for example&comma; you happen upon the body unexpectedly&comma; you may feel like you&&num;8217&semi;re taking on responsibilities that someone else already agreed to&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In that case&comma; it might be best to make that one phone call and turn over responsibilities&period; Since you&&num;8217&semi;re reading this&comma; there&&num;8217&semi;s a good chance you&&num;8217&semi;ve got more work to do&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Get Legal Documentation of the Death<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It may sound like the last thing you want to do&period; But collecting the necessary paperwork and documents is key when someone dies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Legal documentation is necessary for several reasons&period; You won&&num;8217&semi;t be able to gain access to financial accounts or file life insurance claims without them&period;  So the sooner you get the process started&comma; the better&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Things you will have to do in the coming days&comma; like <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;ssa&period;gov&sol;benefits&sol;survivors&sol;&num;&colon;~&colon;text&equals;If&percnt;20you&percnt;20need&percnt;20to&percnt;20report&comma;00&percnt;20p&period;m&period;&percnt;20Monday&percnt;20through&percnt;20Friday&period;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">contact social security<&sol;a> and begin going through their will&comma; will all be easier&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It might help to look into your state&&num;8217&semi;s laws surrounding when you need them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Square Away Immediate Plans<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Immediate plans include things like finding someone to care for pets or children&period; This also is the time to make phone calls to funeral homes if that is the plan&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It can be easy to overlook simpler tasks&comma; too&period; If the person died in their home&comma; it might be a good idea to take out their trash or put away anything that could be hazardous&period; Look around the yard and see if anything needs to be returned to storage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">You&&num;8217&semi;ll likely be back there in a few days—but it&&num;8217&semi;s still a good idea to take care of the simple tasks now if you can&period; &lpar;This is a good time to ask for help if it&&num;8217&semi;s too much&period;&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">For what it&&num;8217&semi;s worth&comma; this tip and the next one can be switched&period; Some find it easier to take care of logistics&comma; while others find help and support from family to be the best step for them&period; Do what feels right for you&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Make Arrangements for the Body<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Transportation&comma; the purchasing of a casket&comma; and finding the right funeral home for your budget all factor under the category of &&num;8220&semi;making arrangements&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The more information you have from the will&comma; the better&period; But if you&&num;8217&semi;re left on your own to decide these things&comma; consult someone close to you&period; A group of minds operates better than one in trying times&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Basic questions&comma; like if there will be a memorial or a wake&comma; need to be answered&period; Also&comma; take into account the budget for these things&period; &lpar;You can ask the funeral home directly for this information&period;&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Contact Others<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It&&num;8217&semi;s better to wait a few hours at least to contact others after a passing&period; This gives you time to get your head in an okay place and time to carry out your duties like making arrangements&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Keep in mind there is no &&num;8220&semi;correct&&num;8221&semi; process for this&period; It can be hard to discuss or even know what to do after someone dies at home &lpar;or elsewhere&comma; for that matter&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Only those closest to you need to know about the death right away&period; Save yourself the time and energy by focusing on your closest relatives and loved ones&period; Contact others via social media&comma; phone&comma; or email later on&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Carry Out the Duties of &lpar;or Find&rpar; the Will Executor<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">After someone dies&comma; their assets and belongings become a part of their estate&period; The executor of the will is the person who takes care of the person&&num;8217&semi;s assets&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If this is you&comma; then it&&num;8217&semi;s your job to start gathering information and taking care of the responsibilities&period; Paying off debts&comma; identifying assets&comma; distributing anything specific left in their last will and testament&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It&&num;8217&semi;s also good to read up about probate and <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;frameandframelaw&period;com&sol;when-a-loved-one-dies-what-you-need-to-know-about-probate-and-estate-administration&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">estate administration<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Carry Out Any Other Wishes<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In some cases&comma; the deceased may have left behind other wishes&period; These could be included in their last will and testament or have been verbally discussed beforehand&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Unfortunately&comma; some wishes&comma; especially those that go undocumented&comma; can cause tension among family members and loved ones&period; One study found that as many as <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;usatoday&period;com&sol;story&sol;money&sol;personalfinance&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;11&sol;estate-plan-will&sol;71270548&sol;&num;&colon;~&colon;text&equals;According&percnt;20to&percnt;20a&percnt;202015&percnt;20Rocket&comma;t&percnt;20need&percnt;20one&percnt;20at&percnt;20all&period;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">64 percent of American adults<&sol;a> do not have a will&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">During periods of grieving tensions run high and it can be easy to get overwhelmed or frustrated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The only thing you can do is follow the instructions left for you and do the best you can otherwise&period; Allow yourself space here to grieve and breathe and don&&num;8217&semi;t let any problems distract you from the tasks at hand&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>What To Do After Someone Dies <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It&&num;8217&semi;s not easy to know exactly what to do after someone dies&period; Even though death is something we all face and deal with&comma; the passing of a loved one is never easy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Contact immediate family first and get the support you need&period; Then proceed onto the other duties you have&comma; like getting legal documentation&comma; making funeral arrangements&comma; and carrying out the deceased&&num;8217&semi;s will and last wishes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">This time will be a heavy one for you&comma; but we wish you all the best&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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