The administrative side of losing someone is overwhelming. This checklist covers everyone you'll need to contact — work through it at your own pace, and check things off as you go. Your progress is saved automatically.
Power of Attorney expires automatically at death. If you're holding a POA for the deceased, it became void the moment they passed — banks and institutions will not honor it.
Bank accounts without a named beneficiary cannot be released without probate court approval — even with a valid will. This catches many families off guard. Before you visit any financial institution, consult an estate attorney or the probate court in your county. Read the full story →
Sincerely Departed walks you through it section by section — early life, career, family, and more — and builds a complete, print-ready tribute from your answers.
Build the Obituary — $14.99 →Pay once. Edit freely. Email or print when you're done.
When someone dies, government agencies and financial institutions don't find out automatically — they keep paying until you tell them to stop. Social Security, for example, will claw back any payment issued for the month of death, and if you're slow to notify them, the overpayment can take months to resolve. Banks and pension administrators operate the same way: the sooner you notify, the simpler and cleaner the process will be for everyone.
Accounts left open in a deceased person's name don't close themselves. Pension checks that keep arriving create an overpayment liability that the estate — and sometimes surviving family — must repay. Credit card accounts left open are a vector for identity theft, which is far more common in the months after a death than most people realize. Subscriptions keep billing. Loyalty points expire unclaimed. None of it is catastrophic on its own, but the compounding effect of missed notifications can drag the estate settlement process out significantly.
Realistically, plan for four to eight weeks from start to finish — longer if the estate involves real property or accounts without named beneficiaries. Government agencies (Social Security, the IRS, the DMV) each have their own timelines and paperwork requirements. Financial institutions typically need a certified death certificate and, once the estate is in probate, letters testamentary before they'll take action. Working through the checklist systematically — category by category — is the most reliable way to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Power of Attorney expires automatically at death. The moment a loved one passes, that document becomes void — even if you've been using it for years. You'll need to be formally established as executor by a probate court before most institutions will speak with you. Read more about what this means in practice →