After Death First Week Checklist Guide

By Helen Planning and checklists editor Published August 13, 2026 How we edit

A preparation aid, not legal advice. Confirm each item against the signed document, institution, court, or agency involved.

The practical effect of After Death First Week Checklist depends on the controlling document, current ownership records, and applicable state law.

Checklist workspace

Address immediate safety, dependent care, pets, residence security, and time-sensitive funeral or disposition instructions. Obtain the death pronouncement and order the number of certified death certificates likely to be needed. Locate the original will, complete trust, amendments, powers, deeds, account records, and funeral contract. Identify who has legal authority now; do not assume a former power-of-attorney agent can act after death. Secure physical property, mail, vehicles, devices, keys, medication, firearms, and business premises lawfully. Notify the appropriate court or adviser of urgent deadlines without distributing or retitling assets prematurely. Create a dated communication log for family, institutions, insurers, employers, benefits agencies, and creditors. Preserve statements, bills, tax records, digital-access instructions, and evidence of every expense paid.

Evidence and next-action log
Item	Owner	Evidence or location	Next action / date

Questions that stay open

Which document, contract, court order, or statute controls?
Who has authority now, and what evidence proves it?

Risks to pause on

Acting from a document title or family recollection without checking the operative record can produce the wrong transfer or authority decision.

After Death First Week Checklist Guide

Checklist workspace

Questions that stay open

Risks to pause on

Sources for current requirements