What to Do When Someone Dies: A Checklist for Families

In the first week, the jobs are small and practical: let the funeral home register the death and order certified copies of the death certificate, make sure Social Security has been told, and secure the house, the car and the mail. USA.gov puts Social Security at the top of its own list of agencies to notify, and says the funeral director should report the death to the Social Security Administration for you, and that if they do not, you must do this as soon as possible, and that SSA will notify Medicare. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Everything after that runs on paper you do not have yet, which is why the copies come first.

What follows is the order the job tends to happen in, with the federal source behind each step. One thing to hold before you start: death registration, probate, driver's licenses and voter registration are state functions, not federal ones. The federal pages below apply across the country. The state examples are labeled as examples, and your state will have its own rule.

The checklist, in the order it usually happens

Thirteen steps. The detail behind each one is underneath, with the source.

1. Give the funeral director the Social Security number so they can report the death to the SSA. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)
2. Order certified death certificates from the vital records office of the state where the death occurred. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)
3. Order more copies than feels sensible, because some organizations keep theirs.
4. Secure the house, the car and anything portable, and check the insurance.
5. Deal with the mail, which for a deceased person cannot be redirected online. (Source: usps.com, checked 26 Sep 2026)
6. Confirm Social Security was actually told, and call the SSA yourself if you are unsure.
7. If the person was a veteran, report the death to the VA promptly. (Source: news.va.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)
8. Tell the banks, credit card companies, credit bureaus and other financial organizations. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)
9. Cancel the voter registration with the local election office, and return the passport to the State Department. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)
10. Find out whether your state needs probate here, or whether a small estate process covers it.
11. Get an EIN for the estate if it will have income of its own. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)
12. File the person's final income tax return. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)
13. Pay what the estate owes before anyone inherits anything.

Nothing here is a race, with one exception. Benefit payments that should have stopped can turn into money the family has to send back.

Certified death certificates come from the state, not from Washington

This one catches people who go looking for a federal office. There is not one. The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics says plainly that the federal government does not distribute certificates, files, or indexes with identifying information for vital records, and tells you to work out the state or area where the death occurred and start there. (Source: cdc.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

USA.gov routes you the same way, saying to contact the vital records office of the state where the death occurred to learn how to order a certified copy online, by mail, or in person. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Fees, turnaround times and who may order a copy differ from state to state and they change, so take the number off your own state's page.

How many copies? There is no national answer, and no government page gives a figure for a death inside the United States. USA.gov describes certified copies as what you need for notifying the Social Security Administration and other government agencies, and for closing or transferring credit cards and bank accounts. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Count the accounts, policies and agencies on your list, then add a few.

Social Security and Medicare: what is verified, and what to ask them yourself

Start with the reporting path, because it is usually already handled. USA.gov says to provide the deceased person's Social Security number to the funeral director so they can report the death to the SSA. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Medicare.gov says the same from its side: in most cases, the funeral home will report the person's death to Social Security. (Source: medicare.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Both pages give the same phone number, 1-800-772-1213, with TTY 1-800-325-0778 on the Medicare page, and Medicare needs no separate call, because USA.gov states that SSA will notify Medicare. (Source: medicare.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

One rule about the final payment is worth understanding early, because it surprises families who see money arrive after the funeral. USA.gov states that the SSA cannot pay benefits for the month of a recipient's death. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) If a payment for that month lands in the account, it is not the family's to keep, and it is better to raise it than to wait for a letter.

Beyond those points, this page carries no Social Security figures on purpose. Survivor benefits, any one-time payment and the time limits on them are set by the SSA, and those amounts and rules change. Rather than repeat a number from somewhere else: contact the Social Security Administration at ssa.gov or on 1-800-772-1213 and ask what a surviving spouse or child may be entitled to, and by when. (Source: medicare.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

If the person served: report it to the VA early

There is a live financial reason to move on this one. VA News says that after a Veteran passes away, family members should report the death of the Veteran to VA as soon as possible to stop current benefits payments, and that if the death is not reported promptly, survivors or executors of the Veteran's estate may have to repay any overpayments received. (Source: news.va.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) A benefit that keeps paying is not a windfall, it is a debt forming quietly.

Three ways to do it. By phone, on 800-827-1000, TTY 711, selecting 5, with agents available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET. In person, at a VA regional office. Or by mail, to the Department of Veterans Affairs Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444. (Source: news.va.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Money may run the other way too. VA burial benefits can help family members plan and pay for a burial or memorial service in a VA national cemetery. (Source: va.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) A VA Survivors Pension offers monthly payments to qualified surviving spouses and unmarried dependent children of wartime Veterans who meet income and net worth limits set by Congress, and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation is a separate tax-free benefit for the survivor of a service member who died in the line of duty or a Veteran who died from a service-related injury or illness. (Source: va.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Worth asking about in the same call.

Who else to notify, and the two that people forget

USA.gov's list is short and blunt: report the person's death to banks, credit card companies, credit bureaus, and other financial organizations. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) No single federal switch does this, so it is a call or a letter each, and each one is likely to want a certified copy.

The two people miss are the passport and the vote. You can return the person's passport to the Department of State for cancellation, and you should contact the local election office to cancel the voter registration, which USA.gov says helps prevent voter fraud. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Elections are run locally, so that call goes to your county or city office.

The mail has its own trap, because the online route is closed. USPS says that to forward the deceased's mail you must go to a Post Office location to submit a change of address request, and must provide documented proof that you are the appointed executor or administrator authorized to manage the deceased's mail, adding that simply having their death certificate is not enough. (Source: usps.com, checked 26 Sep 2026) For a single piece that arrives first, USPS says to cross out your address, print "Forward to" and the new address on the envelope, and leave it in your mailbox for carrier pickup. (Source: usps.com, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Vehicles and driver's licenses are a state matter. California's DMV asks you to complete a DMV 22 form to report the death of a loved one, and says registration must be maintained while estate matters are managed, including paying registration fees or placing the vehicle on Planned Nonoperation status on or before the registration expiration date. (Source: dmv.ca.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) That is California only. Another state may want a different form, or none, so check with your own DMV.

Debts: what the family owes, and what it does not

This is the question that keeps people awake, and the two federal consumer agencies give the same answer.

The CFPB puts it this way: when someone dies, their debts are generally paid out of the money or property left in the estate, and if the estate can't pay it and there's no one who shared responsibility for the debt, it may go unpaid. (Source: consumerfinance.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Read that second half slowly.

The FTC says the same from the other direction: as a rule, a person's debts do not go away when they die, and those debts are owed by and paid from the deceased person's estate. (Source: consumer.ftc.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Both are describing the general position, and both also describe situations where another person did share legal responsibility for a particular debt, which turns on the paperwork and on state law. If a collector says you personally owe something, that is the moment to have an attorney read the agreement rather than take the collector's word for it.

On the calls themselves, the FTC is specific about what makes them stop. Tell the collector you don't want them to contact you again, and keep a copy of the email or letter for your files. (Source: consumer.ftc.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) The written copy is the part that matters.

Taxes: the person's last return, and the estate's first

There are two possible returns, and they are different things.

The first is the person's own final return. USA.gov says you must file the person's final income tax return, including all unreported income the person earned up to their date of death. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) IRS Publication 559 says it is due at the same time the decedent's return would have been due had death not occurred, so the death does not move the deadline. If a personal representative has been appointed, that person must sign the return, and if it is a joint return, the surviving spouse must also sign it. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

If that final return produces a refund, there may be a form: the IRS says to use Form 1310 to claim a refund on behalf of a deceased taxpayer. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Publication 559 lists two situations where it is not required, a surviving spouse filing an original or amended joint return with the decedent, and a court-appointed or certified personal representative filing the decedent's original return with the court certificate attached. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Form 56 is the one that tells the IRS who you are. Its purpose is to provide notification to the IRS of the creation or termination of a fiduciary relationship under section 6903. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Publication 559 describes it as notifying the IRS that you, as the fiduciary, are assuming the powers, rights, duties, and privileges of the decedent. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The second return belongs to the estate. The IRS says the fiduciary of a domestic decedent's estate files Form 1041 to report the income, deductions, gains and losses of the estate, income accumulated or distributed to beneficiaries, and any income tax liability of the estate. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) The trigger is a dollar figure: if the estate generates more than $600 in annual gross income, you are required to file Form 1041. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) First the estate needs its own number, because the IRS says you'll need to get a tax identification number for the estate called an employer identification number, or EIN. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) The person's own Social Security number does not do this job.

Estate tax is a much smaller club than people assume

Estate tax and the estate's income tax get confused constantly. The $600 figure above is about income the estate earns; estate tax is about the size of the estate itself, and the IRS publishes a filing threshold by year of death. For deaths in the 2025 tax year its own table shows $13,990,000. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) These thresholds are indexed and move from year to year, so the 2025 tax year figure is not the figure for another year, and it is the one shown at the date this was checked.

The IRS is also reassuring about how rarely this bites, saying most relatively simple estates, meaning cash, publicly traded securities, small amounts of other easily valued assets, and no special deductions or elections, or jointly held property, do not require the filing of an estate tax return. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Separately, some states run their own estate or inheritance taxes with their own thresholds, which is a question for your state and for an attorney or tax advisor.

Probate, or maybe not: the state thresholds that decide it

Whether the family goes to court at all depends on the state and on what the person owned. Two real examples show how wide the gap is.

California's own court self-help guide says that if you have the legal right to inherit personal property, like money in a bank account or stocks, and the estate is worth $184,500 or less, you may not have to go to court to have the property transferred to you, with that figure applying where the person died on April 1, 2022, or later, and $166,250 before that date. It also imposes a wait: you cannot start this process unless at least 40 days have passed since the person passed away. The page flags its own instability, saying the amount can change from year to year. (Source: selfhelp.courts.ca.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Texas draws the line elsewhere. The Texas State Law Library says a small estate affidavit may be used when total assets consist of $75,000 or less, not counting the homestead or exempt property, under Texas Estates Code, Chapter 205. (Source: guides.sll.texas.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

One state at $184,500 and another at $75,000, with a waiting period in one and different exclusions in both. Those are California and Texas figures at the date this was checked, here to show the variation rather than to be applied anywhere else. There is no national small estate threshold, so look up the court self-help page or probate court for the state where the person lived.

The part that actually makes this slow

Rarely the law. Almost always the hunting.

Every step above assumes somebody can answer which bank, which insurer, where the deed is, and whether the 401(k) beneficiary was ever updated after the divorce. Most families cannot, because the answers lived in one person's head and in a drawer nobody has opened. Each unanswered question becomes a call, a form and a wait.

If a life insurance policy is one of the gaps, there is a free place to look. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the organization of state insurance regulators, runs a locator that helps to connect consumers with their deceased loved ones' lost life insurance policies and annuity contracts, searching on details from the death certificate: Social Security number, legal name, date of birth and date of death. (Source: content.naic.org, checked 26 Sep 2026)

An attorney is worth paying for the legal corner: the probate filing, a contested estate, a trust that needs reading properly. That part earns its fee. The rest of it, the map of where everything is and who to call, is a kitchen table job that costs a fraction of what guided help costs, and it decides whether the family spends four months on this or fourteen.

If you are the one holding this right now, the free Executor Toolkit sets out the first twelve months as a roadmap. If you would rather your own family had the answers written down, The Estate Organizer is the book they fill in. You complete it on your own computer or print it and write it by hand, so the account numbers and the wishes stay in the house instead of on a company's server.

One last thing, because it belongs on a page like this. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline speaks directly to people it calls loss survivors, grappling with fear, grief, shame, and anger after a death, and it is free around the clock by calling 988, texting 988, or chatting at chat.988lifeline.org. (Source: 988lifeline.org, checked 26 Sep 2026) Being the organized one does not mean you have to be the fine one.

Common questions about what to do when someone dies

Who do you notify when someone dies?

Social Security first, and the funeral home usually handles it. USA.gov says the funeral director should report the death to the Social Security Administration for you, that if they do not you must do this as soon as possible, and that SSA will notify Medicare. The same page says to report the death to banks, credit card companies, credit bureaus, and other financial organizations, to cancel the voter registration with the local election office, and to return the passport to the Department of State. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) If the person was a veteran, VA News says to report the death to VA as soon as possible to stop current benefits payments. (Source: news.va.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

How do you get a death certificate in the US?

Through the state, not the federal government. USA.gov says to contact the vital records office of the state where the death occurred to learn how to order a certified copy online, by mail, or in person. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics confirms the federal government does not distribute certificates, files, or indexes with identifying information for vital records. (Source: cdc.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Fees and processing times are set by each state and change, so use your own state's page.

How many copies of the death certificate do you need?

There is no national number, and no federal page gives one for a death inside the United States. USA.gov describes certified copies as what you need for notifying the Social Security Administration and other government agencies, and for closing or transferring credit cards and bank accounts. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Count the banks, insurers and agencies on your list and order generously, since some keep the copy they are given.

Is the family responsible for a deceased person's debts?

Generally the estate pays, not the relatives. The CFPB says that when someone dies, their debts are generally paid out of the money or property left in the estate, and that if the estate can't pay it and there's no one who shared responsibility for the debt, it may go unpaid. (Source: consumerfinance.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) The FTC agrees that as a rule, a person's debts do not go away when they die, and those debts are owed by and paid from the deceased person's estate. (Source: consumer.ftc.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Both also describe situations where another person did share legal responsibility for a specific debt, which turns on the agreement and on state law. If a collector says you personally owe something, have an attorney read the paperwork. To stop the calls, the FTC says to tell the collector you don't want them to contact you again and keep a copy of the email or letter. (Source: consumer.ftc.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Does the estate have to file a tax return?

Two are possible. The person's own final income tax return must be filed, including all unreported income earned up to their date of death, and IRS Publication 559 says it is due at the same time the decedent's return would have been due had death not occurred. (Source: usa.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The estate may also file its own. The IRS says that if the estate generates more than $600 in annual gross income, you are required to file Form 1041, and the estate needs its own employer identification number, or EIN. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Federal estate tax is separate and sits far higher: the IRS filing threshold table shows $13,990,000 for deaths in the 2025 tax year, and these thresholds are indexed and change. (Source: irs.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Does every estate have to go through probate?

No, and the answer is set by the state. California's court self-help guide says an estate worth $184,500 or less may pass without going to court where the person died on April 1, 2022, or later, and that at least 40 days must have passed before the process can start, while warning the amount can change from year to year. (Source: selfhelp.courts.ca.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026) Texas sets its small estate affidavit at total assets of $75,000 or less, not counting the homestead or exempt property. (Source: guides.sll.texas.gov, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Those two figures are California and Texas only, at the date this was checked. Other states set their own lines, so check the probate court for the state where the person lived.

Related guides

• Executor first steps: what to do in the first few weeks
• Probate: what it is and whether your family needs it
• What does an executor actually do?
• Beneficiary designations: why you should check yours

Educational content only. This is general information, not legal, financial or tax advice. Estate laws vary from state to state. Please speak to a qualified attorney or advisor about your situation.

Get the free Executor Toolkit

A Day 1 to Month 12 roadmap for anyone handling an estate, the mistakes that create personal liability, notification letters and an expense tracker. Free and instant.