What to Do When Someone Dies: A Step-by-Step Checklist

Detailed Explanation

The hours after a death can feel like a blur of decisions. In reality, only a few things are urgent, and most of the practical work can be spread over days and weeks. This checklist sets out the usual order of things. The broad steps are much the same in most countries; the names of the documents, who registers the death, and the deadlines differ, and the country guides linked below cover those details. For the wider picture, see the Funeral Planning hub.

Step 1: Have the death confirmed and certified

What happens first depends on where and how the person died:

• An expected death at home, for example under palliative care: contact their doctor, community nurse or palliative care team. They'll confirm the death and arrange the medical certificate of the cause of death. There's generally no need to call an ambulance or the police.
• A sudden or unexpected death: call the emergency number (000 in Australia, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US). Paramedics and often police will attend. Deaths that are sudden, unexplained, violent or the result of an accident are referred to a coroner (or, in parts of the US, a medical examiner). This is a routine legal process, not a suggestion that anyone did anything wrong.
• A death in hospital, a hospice or a care home: staff handle the medical side and will ask which funeral director to contact. You don't need to decide on the spot.
• A death overseas: the process runs through the local authorities and your country's embassy or consulate. See how do you repatriate a body after a death overseas.

If the person wanted to be an organ or tissue donor, tell hospital staff early. Does organ or tissue donation delay the funeral explains what to expect.

Step 2: Contact a funeral director, or decide to arrange it yourself

Once the death has been confirmed, a funeral director can bring the person into their care, at any hour. You don't have to commit to anything in that first call, and you're free to compare providers. Asking for itemised prices is normal; in the US the FTC Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to give prices over the phone and a written price list in person. How to choose a funeral director has the questions worth asking.

Tell the funeral director straight away if the family's faith calls for a quick burial, or if the person had a prepaid funeral plan.

Step 3: Register the death

Every country covered here requires the death to be registered with the government, and the death certificate the family needs for banks, insurers and the estate comes from that registration. Who registers it, and when, varies:

• England and Wales: GOV.UK says the doctor confirms the death before contacting the medical examiner, who checks the cause of death. The death is then registered at a register office within 5 days of getting that confirmation (8 days in Scotland), usually by a relative. The registrar issues the certificate needed before a burial or cremation.
• United States: a doctor, medical examiner or coroner certifies the cause of death, and the funeral home usually files the death certificate with the vital records office of the state where the death happened. Certified copies are ordered from that state office, and fees and rules vary by state.
• Australia: the funeral director usually lodges the registration with the state or territory registry of births, deaths and marriages.

Order more certified copies than you think you'll need. Many organisations ask to see one.

Step 4: Look for the will and any funeral wishes

Check for a will, a prepaid funeral plan, or a written record of funeral wishes. The will names the executor, who in most places has the legal right to make or oversee the funeral arrangements and to deal with the estate. If there's no will, the local rules decide who takes on those roles.

Step 5: Plan the funeral

Over the following days, the family decides on burial or cremation if the person didn't leave a preference, the kind of service, the date and venue, and who will speak. A funeral notice lets the wider community know. Many families also create an online memorial so people who live far away can share photos and memories. None of these decisions has to be made on the first day.

Step 6: Notify people and organisations

Close family and friends first, then the practical list: government agencies, the employer, banks, pension or retirement funds, insurers, utilities and subscriptions. Some countries have a service that tells several government agencies at once, such as Tell Us Once in England, Scotland and Wales, and the Australian Death Notification Service for many banks, telcos and utilities. In the US, the funeral director usually reports the death to the Social Security Administration. Who do you need to notify when someone dies has the full checklist.

Step 7: Deal with the estate

In the weeks and months that follow, the executor or administrator collects the person's assets, pays debts and taxes, and distributes what's left. Depending on the size and type of the estate and the local law, this may need a grant of probate or letters of administration from a court. Any power of attorney the person made stopped working at the moment they died, so accounts and property are now handled through the estate.

How it works where you are

• In Australia: What do you do when someone dies? A step-by-step guide for Australia covers certification, choosing a funeral director, state registration and the paperwork that follows.
• In the UK: who to notify when someone dies in the UK explains registration and Tell Us Once.
• In the US: who to notify when someone dies in the US covers Social Security, the IRS and state agencies.

Things to Consider

• Share the load. Hand specific tasks to different people: one handles calls, one searches for documents, one deals with the funeral director.
• Family who need to travel. Waiting for relatives to arrive is one of the most common reasons funerals are held a week or more after a death, and that's completely normal.
• Costs usually come from the estate. The funeral is generally paid for from the person's estate, and in many places banks will release money from the person's account to pay a funeral invoice before probate. Check before paying large sums personally.
• Help if money is tight. Several countries have government help with funeral costs for people on low incomes, and funeral directors can explain simpler, lower-cost options.
• Look after yourselves. Grief makes paperwork harder than it looks. How to cope with grief after someone dies is there when you're ready, and a GP is a good first contact if things feel too heavy.

Common Mistakes

• Calling emergency services for an expected death. Usually unnecessary, and it can add distressing procedures to a peaceful death. Call the doctor or palliative care team instead.
• Signing with the first funeral home without seeing prices. Prices for similar services vary widely. Getting two or three itemised quotes takes little time.
• Rushing the date. Unless faith or circumstances call for speed, a few extra days usually makes for a farewell the family feels better about.
• Ordering only one death certificate. Several organisations may need a certified copy at the same time.
• Using a power of attorney after the death. Its authority ends at death. Everything now goes through the executor or administrator.
• Missing benefits and entitlements. Bereavement payments, life insurance and pension or retirement fund death benefits are easy to overlook in the first weeks. Keep a list and work through it slowly.