What to Do When Someone Dies: The First 72 Hours Checklist

Quick Reference: The First 72 Hours Checklist

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First hour

Get legal pronouncement of death.Hospital/hospice staff handle this. Sudden, violent, unattended, or uncertain death: call 911; the medical examiner/coroner may be involved. Do not rush the body out of the room.Unless organ donation, medical examiner rules, or facility policy creates urgency, you usually have time to sit, call family, and choose deliberately. Ask immediately about organ, eye, and tissue donation if it may apply.HRSA notes organs cannot be stored for days; hospitals coordinate with the organ procurement organization when donation is medically possible. Notify the smallest necessary inner circle.One caller can coordinate updates. Do not turn the first hour into a 40-person phone tree. Secure pets, doors, medications, valuables, and vehicles.Ask a trusted person to lock the home, remove perishable food, feed animals, and photograph valuables before anything is moved. Look for prepaid arrangements before calling a funeral home.Search wallet, files, email, safe, attorney contact, veterans papers, body-donation registration, and a “when I die” letter.

First day

Choose the cheapest acceptable disposition path before shopping.Direct cremation, direct burial, body donation, green burial, alkaline hydrolysis, NOR, or full-service funeral have very different costs. Call at least three providers and ask for itemized prices.Say: “Please give me your price for direct cremation and your basic services fee. I am not choosing a package.” Get the General Price List before discussing caskets or packages.The FTC Funeral Rule requires a GPL when you ask in person about arrangements; phone price questions must be answered too. Authorize transfer only after you know the receiving provider and price.Transport fees and refrigeration can be legitimate; rushed transfer to the first provider can trap you in their price list. Order 10-15 certified death certificates.Most agencies need certified copies. Typical state/local fees are often about $10-$25 each; exact cost depends on the vital records office. Delay public obituary details until the home is secure.Publish after valuables, mail, vehicles, and pets are handled. Avoid advertising an empty house during service times. If employed, notify employer/HR.Ask about final paycheck, life insurance, retirement plans, unpaid PTO, health coverage, and beneficiary forms.

First month

Locate the original will and file it if state law requires.Probate filing deadlines vary by state. A photocopy can create delays. Identify the executor/personal representative.Until appointed or authorized, family members may lack authority to sell property or access accounts. Build an asset-and-debt inventory.List accounts, property, vehicles, loans, taxes, insurance, valuables, digital assets, and recurring bills. Calendar tax filings.Final income tax, estate income tax, property tax, and business filings may apply. Check veterans, union, employer, and fraternal benefits.VA burial benefits, military honors, pensions, and survivor benefits can change the funeral and estate math. Memorialize or close social media and cloud accounts.Preserve photos, contacts, tax documents, and two-factor recovery before requesting closure or memorialization. Decide whether probate counsel is needed.Use a lawyer for real estate, conflict, insolvent estate, business interests, blended families, missing will, or contested beneficiaries. Make a shared records folder.Keep death certificates, GPL, contract, receipts, account letters, claim numbers, passwords you are legally allowed to use, and court filings. Assign one admin lead and one emotional-support lead.The person best at paperwork is often not the person most able to absorb every family emotion.

Your FTC Funeral Rule Rights

These are U.S. federal consumer-protection rights. Screenshot this section before sitting down with a funeral arranger.

You can buy only the goods and services you want.

You do not have to accept a package that includes embalming, viewing, printed materials, limousines, or a ceremony.

FTC Funeral Rule consumer guide

They must give prices over the phone.

You do not have to give your name, address, or phone number before receiving price information.

FTC Funeral Rule phone-price disclosure

You must get a General Price List when you ask in person.

Get the GPL before you see caskets, packages, or a showroom. Photograph it if you are tired.

16 CFR Part 453 / FTC GPL requirement

You may buy a casket anywhere.

The funeral home must accept a third-party casket and may not charge a handling fee.

FTC Funeral Rule casket disclosure

Direct cremation does not require a casket.

If you choose direct cremation, the provider must offer an unfinished wood box or alternative container.

FTC direct-cremation disclosure

Embalming is usually not legally required.

It may be required by a provider for some public viewing, or by state/time/transport rules, but it is not a routine legal requirement for immediate burial or cremation.

FTC embalming disclosure

You must receive an itemized statement before payment.

The statement should list exactly what you selected and what each item costs.

FTC statement of funeral goods and services selected

Online price posting is not yet the federal rule.

FTC began rulemaking to consider online/electronic price disclosures; as of 2026-07-05, the existing federal rule still centers phone and in-person disclosures.

FTC ANPR / Federal Register Funeral Industry Practices Rule

Complaint path: if a provider refuses phone prices, hides the GPL, charges a casket handling fee, or misstates embalming law, document names/times, keep receipts, file an FTC complaint, and use small claims only for a concrete billing dispute.

Disposition Options With Real Prices

Costs are U.S. ranges as of July 2026. Local GPLs beat national averages; always ask what is excluded.

Option	Typical cost	Timeline	Legality / availability	Gotchas
Direct cremation	$1,000-$3,000	Authorization to several days, depending on permits and crematory schedule.	Available broadly where cremation is legal.	No viewing or ceremony with the body; confirm container, crematory fee, permits, and death-certificate filing are included.
Funeral with cremation	NFDA median $6,280 in 2023	Usually several days to two weeks.	Broadly available.	Often adds rental/cremation casket, viewing, ceremony, memorial package, urn, flowers, and venue fees.
Full-service burial	NFDA median $8,300; $9,995 with vault in 2023	Usually several days to two weeks.	Broadly available.	Plot, opening/closing grave, marker, obituary, flowers, clergy, and cemetery fees can sit outside the funeral-home median.
Green / natural burial	Often $2,000-$6,000+ before travel/ceremony	Often faster than conventional burial if no embalming.	Available where a cemetery accepts it; use Green Burial Council standards to avoid greenwashing.	Ask whether the cemetery permits shrouds, biodegradable caskets, no vault, and grave markers.
Alkaline hydrolysis / aquamation	Often $1,500-$4,000 where offered	Similar decision path to cremation; facility availability varies.	CANA lists 26 legal states as of March 2026: AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, KS, ME, MD, MN, MO, NV, NC, OK, OR, SC, TN, UT, VT, WA, WV, WY.	Legal does not mean a local provider exists; ask about returned remains volume and timing.
Natural organic reduction / human composting	Commonly about $5,000-$7,000	Usually 30-60+ days before soil return/donation.	Legal in 14 states as of July 2026: AZ, CA, CO, DE, GA, ME, MD, MN, NV, NJ, NY, OR, VT, WA.	Transport may be needed; soil disposition rules and religious objections vary.
Whole-body donation to science	$0 if accepted by the program	Acceptance can be immediate; cremated remains often return weeks or months later.	Program-specific medical, location, and documentation criteria.	Not guaranteed. Reputable programs disclose acceptance rules, transport, cremation, and whether remains are returned.
Burial at sea	Often $500-$5,000+ depending on attended vs. unattended vessel	Weather and vessel scheduling matter.	Allowed under federal EPA ocean-disposal rules when requirements are met.	EPA requires burial at least 3 nautical miles from land and notice to EPA within 30 days; full-body burial at sea is specialized.
Home funeral / family-led care	$0-$2,000+ plus permits, dry ice, transport, burial/cremation	Can begin immediately; final disposition still needs legal paperwork.	Legal details vary by state; most states allow some family participation.	Verify death certificate, transport permit, refrigeration/dry ice, and cemetery/crematory acceptance rules before relying on it.

The Upsell Playbook, Decoded

Use the exact sentence. Do not explain, apologize, or debate grief.

“This protective sealed casket preserves them better.”

“No sealed or protective casket. Please show me the lowest-priced suitable caskets and note that choice on the itemized statement.”

“Most families choose this package.”

“We are not choosing a package. We will select line items from the General Price List.”

“Embalming is required for the viewing.”

“Please show me the written legal or facility requirement. If it is your policy, quote the option without public viewing.”

“For cremation, you need this cremation casket.”

“We want direct cremation with the least expensive alternative container allowed by the FTC Funeral Rule.”

“Your mother would have wanted something dignified.”

“Dignity is not the same as a higher package. We are choosing the arrangement that matches her values and our budget.”

“The cheaper options are in another room / not on display.”

“Please bring the Casket Price List and show every casket under $1,500, including third-party casket acceptance instructions.”

“We need payment today to proceed.”

“Give us the itemized statement first. We will approve only the selected line items in writing.”

“You cannot use an outside urn/casket here.”

“The FTC Funeral Rule says you must accept a third-party casket without a handling fee. Please write any refusal on your letterhead.”

Estate Quick-Start: The First Month

This is not a full probate guide. It is the minimum to avoid expensive mistakes.

Find the will, trust, and beneficiary forms.

The will controls probate assets. Named beneficiaries on life insurance, retirement accounts, payable-on-death bank accounts, and transfer-on-death securities often bypass probate.

Do not: assume the newest family story is the legal document.

File the will if your state requires it.

Probate deadlines and small-estate affidavit thresholds vary. Court websites often publish the local threshold and required forms.

Use a lawyer when: real estate, business ownership, conflict, insolvency, blended families, or a missing original will is involved.

Do not pay debts from your own pocket.

FTC and CFPB guidance: debts are generally paid from the estate, not personally by relatives, unless you co-signed, hold a joint account, state spousal law applies, or another exception fits.

Script: “Send the claim to the estate representative in writing. I am not personally assuming this debt.”

Keep estate money separate.

Open an estate account after authority is granted. Mixing personal and estate funds creates accounting and liability problems.

Preserve records before canceling accounts.

Download bank statements, tax forms, insurance policies, phone bills, cloud photos, subscription lists, and loan statements before access disappears.

Cross-link the planning work.

When those companion sheets are live, use Estate Documents for wills/trusts/POD/TOD planning, Insurance Worth It? for life-insurance context, and Scam Defense for Parents for obituary-vulture and vacant-home risks.

Pre-Need Planning: Do This Before Anyone Is Dying

Pre-planning beats pre-paying.

Write down disposition choice, preferred provider, price ceiling, religious/cultural requirements, obituary preference, and people to call. Prepaid plans can fail through provider closure, non-transferability, inflation gaps, and misunderstood cancellation terms.

The one-page “when I die” letter.

Include: legal name, SSN location, birth date/place, parents' names, veteran status, body-donation registration, funeral preference, digital executor, pet plan, safe/keys, lawyer, CPA, insurance, and passwords location, not passwords in the letter.

POLST / advance directive is not a will.

Advance directives and POLST/MOLST guide medical care while alive. A will guides probate after death. Funeral instructions should be findable immediately; a will may be found too late for disposition decisions.

Price-shop while calm.

Call three providers for direct cremation, immediate burial, and the exact ceremony you would want. Save the GPLs. Put the chosen option in the letter.

Common Mistakes

Calling a funeral home before checking prepaid plans.

You may create duplicate costs or miss the chosen provider. Search first unless urgent transfer is required.

Paying deceased debts personally.

Use estate process. Do not put medical bills, credit cards, or funeral overspend on your own card unless you knowingly choose to.

Buying from the showroom.

Showrooms display emotion and margin. Ask for the price list and compare third-party caskets.

Ordering too few death certificates.

Reordering later is slower. Ten to fifteen is a practical starting range for bank, insurance, retirement, property, and government tasks.

Rushing decisions in the first 24 hours.

Except for donation or medical examiner timelines, most expensive funeral choices can wait until rested relatives compare prices.

Publishing too much obituary detail.

Full address, service time, maiden name, birth date, and survivor names can feed burglary and identity-theft risk.

Source Register

Volatile sections: FTC online-price rulemaking, annual NFDA medians, alkaline-hydrolysis state list, and human-composting state list.