What Steps Should We Take If Someone Dies?
When a loved one dies, it can be challenging to stay on top of all the necessary tasks. After all, this is unfamiliar territory, and you may have questions about how things should be handled. How soon after death is the funeral? What paperwork needs to be managed? There are logistical challenges that will arise after death, and these can be difficult to manage while you are in a heightened emotional state. It is important to create a clear plan that will help you handle both the immediate and long-term tasks that are necessary during this difficult time.
Immediate Steps After a Friend’s or Relative’s Passing
If the death was unexpected and has occurred at your home, call 911 immediately. A medical team will be sent to your home, and they can help you determine what to do next. If the death occurs at home and the person has been receiving hospice care, the hospice caregivers can help you with the next steps.
Most of the time, though, deaths happen outside of the home, in places like hospitals and nursing homes. If that is the case, contact close family and friends, as well as the person’s doctor. If children or pets are involved, make arrangements for their care. Look around to see if the person who has died left any instructions, particularly for funeral arrangements or the final disposition of his or her body.
Try to find out if the person had a designated agent, who might be mentioned in the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, or a Living Will. Try to determine whether there are any prepaid arrangements for burial or cremation.
Checklist When Someone Dies: Legal and Administrative Tasks
The legal requirements may seem daunting, but maintaining a funeral planning checklist can help you keep it all organized and make sure you are getting everything done.
• Acquire legal documentation of the death
You will need this for accessing the person’s accounts, filing life insurance, and handling other aspects of the person’s affairs. Your funeral home can help you get this, or you can get it from a medical examiner, but make sure to obtain several copies.
• Handle necessary notifications
Aside from letting family members and friends know, you will want to notify the person’s coworkers and employer and then begin official calls. Report the death to the Social Security Administration, the person’s bank, mortgage company, and other creditors, the insurance company, and any financial advisor or broker with whom the person might have had dealings.
• Make the final arrangements
Ideally, the person will have a plan in place to manage this. However, if the death was sudden or the person neglected to preplan, you will need to think about transporting the body, finding a funeral director, and arranging for a casket or cremation. It is also important to know if there was a plan in place to donate the person’s organs so that you can make the necessary arrangements to facilitate that.
• Handle necessary tasks
Make sure the person’s home and car are locked, bring in the mail, and take out the trash. These tasks may seem mundane, but they are important. If the person was a veteran, look into any benefits that might be owed. Think about what to do with the person’s belongings, and whether you will need to hold an estate sale, clean the house and sell it, and so on.
What to Do When Someone Dies: Funeral and Memorial Arrangements
How long after a person dies is the funeral? There is no hard and fast rule on this, but most funerals happen within about a week of the death. If the person is cremated, however, there is no rush. Sometimes, families decide to wait several months to have a memorial service for a loved one who has been cremated, and that makes sense.
It gives the family time to process their grief and plan a memorable send-off for their loved one. You can choose to have the memorial service any time you want, as long as it is in keeping with the person’s final wishes. One task you will want to undertake quickly, however, is writing the obituary. That will need to be shared as soon as possible so that people are aware that your loved one has died.
When you organize a funeral or memorial service, check to find out if your loved one has done any preplanning. If not, look for ways to make the service meaningful and truly representative of the person’s personality and the life that was lived.
Managing the Estate
In a perfect world, your loved one will have prepared estate plans, pre-planned a funeral, and discussed end-of-life arrangements with the family. What you may discover, though, is that many of these things have been left undone, and you may need to be proactive about managing the estate. If you are the executor of your loved one’s estate, you will need to:
• File the will, and determine whether probate is necessary.
• Keep beneficiaries, trustees, and any other interested parties informed about what’s happening.
• Pay the person’s bills and close out accounts, keeping an accurate inventory of accounts and assets.
• Distribute assets once the estate has been settled.
• Consider enlisting the help of professionals to handle the legal, financial, and emotional aspects of dealing with loss.
Let John F. Pfleger Funeral Home Help You with Funeral Arrangements
After a loss, it is important to find a partner to help you navigate the list of things that must be done and work out appropriate arrangements. Since 1956, John F. Pfleger Funeral Home has served the Monmouth County community, providing funeral, burial, cremation, and funeral pre-planning services across three generations. Our family-owned-and-operated funeral home is dedicated to helping people through a difficult time and providing compassionate care after a loss.
Whether you need help preplanning a funeral, making arrangements for a loved one’s service, or dealing with the pain of a loss, we are here to help you, always acting from a place of integrity, providing the utmost support and treating you and your family with dignity and respect. Contact us to learn more about how we can help.
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