What to Do When Someone Dies Checklist

A medical professional must legally pronounce death before the body can be moved.

Organ donation decisions are time-sensitive (often within hours).

Usually spouse, then adult children, then parents, then siblings (varies by state).

Check home safe, filing cabinet, attorney's office, or safe deposit box.

Most institutions require an original. Reordering later costs more and takes weeks.

Any benefit paid for the month of death must be returned.

Banks will claw back wrongly paid benefits, sometimes after the money has already been spent.

Ask about final paycheck, accrued PTO, group life insurance, 401(k), pension, and COBRA for dependents.

Most insurers pay within 30-60 days once they have the death certificate and completed claim form.

Obituaries are a known data source for identity thieves.

Surviving spouses may qualify for a burial allowance and DIC benefits.

Equifax (P.O. Box 105139, Atlanta GA 30348); Experian (P.O. Box 9701, Allen TX 75013); TransUnion (P.O. Box 2000, Chester PA 19016).

Review for unknown accounts. Fraud spikes in the weeks after an obituary publishes.

Joint accounts pass to the survivor. Solo accounts get frozen and require an executor or small estate affidavit.

Do not use the deceased's cards, even for funeral expenses. The estate can refuse to pay.

Quiet budget drain that goes unnoticed for months. Scan 12 months of bank statements.

Homes empty 30+ days often void standard coverage. Request a vacant home rider.

Requires a death certificate plus the will or letters testamentary.

Bills, tax forms, and dividend checks keep arriving long after the funeral.

States have estate recovery rights to recoup long-term care costs from the estate.

Blocks identity theft and removes the record from voter rolls.

Send to the Consular Lost and Stolen Passport unit. Active passports are a major identity-theft vector.

Some states require an inheritance tax return even when no federal estate tax is owed.

Unclaimed proceeds are eventually turned over to the state's unclaimed property office.

A named beneficiary bypasses probate entirely.

Spouses generally have a federal right to a 50% joint-and-survivor annuity unless waived.

Old accounts, uncashed payroll, refunded deposits.

Small estates (often under $50K-$150K depending on state), trust assets, joint tenancy, and named-beneficiary accounts skip probate.

Most states require filing within 30-90 days. A few impose criminal penalties for hiding a will.

Banks and brokerages will not release funds without Letters.

Never commingle estate money with personal accounts.

Starts the creditor claim window (typically 3-6 months); late claims are barred after.

Establishes the step-up in basis used for capital gains tax later.

Most card debt dies with the estate if insolvent. Survivors are not personally liable except in community-property states.

Write 'Deceased,' name, and date of death across the top of the return.

The estate is its own taxpayer once you have an EIN.

$13.99M per person for 2025 deaths (set to drop sharply in 2026 absent congressional action). Due 9 months after death.

Transfers the deceased spouse's unused federal exemption to the survivor; can save millions later.

OR and MA have low estate-tax thresholds. PA, KY, NJ, NE, MD, IA impose inheritance tax on heirs.

Thieves dumpster-dive after deaths.

Strongest block on new accounts.

Financial confirmations and 2FA codes can keep arriving for months.

Active profiles are routinely cloned for scams.

A widowed spouse forgetting to remove the deceased as beneficiary is a top probate mess.

The named agent has died and must be replaced.

Releases the executor from personal liability.

Grief impairs judgment. Salespeople know it.

Old utilities, forgotten dividends, or class-action settlements can surface years later.