When someone dies, work through a short, ordered checklist: get a legal pronouncement of death, contact a funeral home, order certified death certificates, notify Social Security, and file any life insurance or final expense claims. Handle the urgent steps in the first week; the rest can follow calmly.
What should you do in the first 24 hours?
In the first 24 hours after a death, the priority is a legal pronouncement and caring for the person’s body, not paperwork. If someone dies at home under hospice care, call the hospice nurse. If there was no hospice and the death was unexpected, call 911. In a hospital or care facility, staff handle the pronouncement for you.
- Get a legal pronouncement of death (hospice nurse, 911, or facility staff).
- Contact a funeral home or cremation provider to arrange transport of the body.
- Tell close family and one or two people who can help you make calls.
- Secure the person’s home, pets, medications, and any valuables.
- Locate important papers: ID, insurance policies, and any written funeral or burial wishes.
If the person had final expense insurance — also called burial insurance or funeral insurance — set that policy aside now, because you will file the claim within a few days. Understanding how the coverage works also helps you compare final expense insurance policies for your own family later.
How do you get a death certificate, and how many copies?
A death certificate is the official legal record of the death, and you will need certified copies to file claims and close accounts. In most cases the funeral home files the paperwork with the state and orders the certified copies on your behalf. Order more copies than you expect to use — banks, insurers, and government offices each typically want their own certified original, and photocopies are usually not accepted. You will lean on these copies for every step that follows, including filing the life insurance claim.
Who do you need to notify after a death?
After a death, notify the people and organizations that hold the person’s accounts and benefits, starting with the ones that stop or change payments. The funeral home often reports the death to Social Security, but confirm this yourself rather than assume it was done.
- Social Security Administration, to stop payments and ask about survivor benefits
- The employer or former employer, about pension, 401(k), and group life insurance
- Life insurance and final expense carriers, to begin the claim
- Banks, credit card companies, and the mortgage lender
- The VA, if the person was a veteran
- Doctors, and cancel recurring prescriptions and subscriptions
How do you file the life insurance or final expense claim?
To file a life insurance or final expense claim, contact the insurance carrier or the independent broker who sold the policy and ask for a claim form. You submit the completed form with a certified death certificate. The policy then pays out the death benefit — the face amount — to the named beneficiary, often within a couple of weeks once the paperwork is complete.
- Find the policy or the carrier’s name (check paperwork, email, or bank drafts for the monthly premium).
- Call the carrier or your broker and request a claim; a broker who compares carriers can file it for you.
- Complete the claim form and attach a certified death certificate.
- Confirm the beneficiary on file and where the payout should go.
- Keep a copy of everything you send.
A final expense policy is a small whole life policy that covers $2,000–$50,000, so the death benefit is meant to cover a funeral and final bills quickly, not replace years of income. If the policy was still inside its two-year graded death benefit period, ask the carrier how the payout is calculated.
What benefits help pay for the funeral?
A few benefits can help with funeral costs, but most are modest. Social Security pays a one-time lump-sum death payment of $255 to an eligible surviving spouse or child. For a veteran with a non-service-connected death, the VA pays a $1,002 burial allowance plus a $1,002 plot or interment allowance for eligible cases, effective October 1, 2025. These help, but they fall short of a funeral: the national median funeral cost is $8,300 with a viewing and burial, or $6,280 with cremation.
| Benefit source | What it pays out | Who it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security | $255 one-time lump-sum death payment | An eligible surviving spouse or child |
| VA (non-service-connected death) | $1,002 burial allowance + $1,002 plot/interment allowance | Eligible veterans; effective Oct 1, 2025 |
| Life or final expense policy | The full death benefit (face amount) the policy pays out | The named beneficiary |
This gap is why so many families rely on a life insurance payout. To see how the pieces add up, it helps to understand what a funeral actually costs today and how a small burial insurance policy is designed to cover it.
What can wait until the weeks after?
Once the funeral and urgent notifications are handled, the rest can wait until you have the energy. In the weeks after a death you will settle the estate, close remaining accounts, and file a final tax return. There is no prize for rushing this part, so take it one item at a time.
- Meet with the estate executor or a probate attorney if the estate needs one
- Close or transfer bank, credit, and utility accounts
- Cancel the driver’s license, voter registration, and subscriptions
- File a final income tax return
- Update the surviving spouse’s own insurance and beneficiaries
Losing someone is hard enough without a surprise funeral bill landing on the family. Once things settle, many people set up their own coverage so no one has to scramble the way you may have. If that is you, take a few minutes to compare final expense insurance options and see how a small policy locks in a fixed monthly premium and covers the costs your family would otherwise carry.