13 Practical Steps to Take When a Loved One Dies
1. Call the local funeral home. Bring the deed to the grave plot, prepaid cremation papers, and/or military discharge papers (if applicable). Also bring any written instructions left by your loved one regarding viewing and burial preferences. And keep in mind that it’s customary for friends and family to call the funeral home for more information about funeral arrangements, such as date and time of visitation, church funerals, burials, and treatment of floral arrangements. and preferences regarding charitable giving.
2. write an obituary. Write information about education, career, surviving family, military service, notable achievements, etc. of your loved one. Help the funeral director write information for obituaries in local newspapers.
3. Obtain certified death certificates. You can usually obtain death certificates from the funeral director or the County Assessor/Recorder’s Office. Request at least 10 certified copies. In San Diego County, certified death certificates cost $12 for each copy. See the attached forms to obtain Death Certificates by mail and in person.
4. Review will and/or trust. Look up your loved one’s original will. This will often be kept in the drafting attorney’s office or in a fireproof safe or safety deposit box. Hopefully, your loved one kept the document at home in a fireproof safe or with the drafting attorney, as the safe could “freeze” upon death, making it difficult to obtain. After a death, the original will must be filed with the Probate Court for the region where the person resided. Once you have located the will and/or trust, the next step is to take these documents to a lawyer.
5. call a lawyer. You may or may not need the help of an attorney for estate or trust administration. However, it is best to consult with an attorney to make that determination. There are many steps in managing a trust that, if not done or done incorrectly, could result in legal liability for the successor trustee or executor.
6. Contact current and former employers. Contact the human resources departments of current and former employers and ask them to fax or mail you a summary of benefits for life insurance, accident insurance, profit-sharing plans, retirement plans, flexible spending plans, etc Former employers may have a list of recipients of pension or annuity benefits.
7. Contact the Social Security Administration. Contact your local Social Security office and notify them of the death. You can find an office at www.ssa.gov. If your loved one was covered by Social Security, your spouse may be eligible for a lump sum death benefit. Spouses must have been married for 9 months or more prior to death, unless the spouse’s death was the result of an accident or military service.
8. Contact life insurance and annuity providers. Obtain life or annuity insurance policies and notify insurers of death to process claims.
9. Access the safe deposit box. To access the safe, you will need to be a signatory on the safe and have the key. Most banks will not allow you access without meeting these two requirements. It is also possible to obtain a Probate Court Order to access the box.
10 call the accountant. The executor/executor of the estate will need to know what taxes, if any, are due to the IRS and the State. The accountant (if the decedent had one) should be called as soon as possible to ensure that any estate taxes owed are paid within 9 months of the date of death, as required by federal law. The estate may need to file a separate tax return and a 706 tax return may be required in a larger estate.
eleven Pay bills that are pending. Be sure to open an estate bank account if you are the executor or a trust bank account if your loved one had a trust and you are the trustee. Transfer liquid funds from assets in the estate or trust to the new bank account to pay for funeral expenses, utility bills, credit card payments, mortgages, or any other debt your loved one may owe. The executor or trustee must ensure that these payments are made and that records of all expenses are kept up to date. This will be important information to share with the accountant for filing tax returns.
12 Notify the post office. If you are the trustee or executor of the estate, you must contact the post office to forward any future mail to your address. You may also need to cancel certain utilities and subscriptions.
13 Re-own any jointly held account. Be sure to retitle accounts that were jointly owned to the name of the survivor only. The bank or other financial institution will likely request a certified copy of the death certificate and fill out the appropriate form to make the change. If the jointly-tenanted asset is real property, an Affidavit of Death for Joint Tenant along with a Certified Death Certificate must be filed with the County Assessor’s Office.
