What needs to happen when someone dies?

I recently posted a video on instagram about what needs to happen when someone dies. It received a lot of feedback because it was contrary to what most people believe: take your time and grieve. The legal stuff can wait.

The follow up is: yes, but what happens when I’m ready to handle it? Effectively there are three things that need to happen:

1) People/organizations/institutions need to be told about the death of the person.

2) All assets and debts need to be identified, located, and accessed (including bank accounts, credit cards, digital assets, etc.)

3) Legal stuff: this is either probate or trust administration. Probate is the legal proceeding that takes place if there is ONLY a will or NO will. Trust administration is a private process that is quicker and less expensive than probate. Both proceedings involve gathering assets, paying off debts, and then getting the remaining assets to the person/people designated in the will or trust (or to the closest living relatives, if no will)

Our office helps with all of this. You can contact us for a free consultation to talk through what needs to happen and when.

Grief is a beast that hits when you least expect it. There’s no way to deal with legal stuff if you haven’t been able to grieve at all. Breathe. Take your time. Then you can call me.