A free, personalized, step-by-step plan
Answer 10 questions about your loved one. We will build a personalized checklist of what to do in the first 72 hours, the first week, the first month, and the first 3-12 months, based on the state they lived in and the choices they made. No sign-up. Your answers stay on your device.
Last reviewed: Reviewed by Jeff Hallman, Florida-licensed life agent
It takes about 3 minutes. You can skip any question.
This tool provides general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. It is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney, CPA, or qualified financial advisor. Laws and procedures vary by state and change over time. Citizens Life Group makes reasonable efforts to keep information current but does not guarantee accuracy. Before taking legal, tax, or financial action, consult a qualified professional licensed in the state where your loved one lived or owned property. This tool does not create an attorney-client or fiduciary relationship.
Last reviewed: April 25, 2026.
Every plan walks through the practical steps in the right order, with the phone numbers, form names, and deadlines you actually need. Topics covered include:
How to get a formal pronouncement of death in any setting, secure the home and pets, locate the will and trust, register organ-donation wishes, and choose a funeral or cremation provider. Direct cremation typically runs $1,000 to $3,000; full traditional service $7,000 to $12,000. You are not required to use the funeral home that picks up the body.
Every state's vital records office, the cost per copy ($5 to $32), how many to order (we recommend 10 to 15), and the authorized online provider for most states (VitalChek). Includes state-specific processing times and any restricted-access rules.
NFDA price-list rights, comparing direct cremation vs. traditional service, free National Cemetery burial for veterans (Form 40-10007), free headstones and markers (Form 40-1330), the burial flag (Form 27-2008), and the Presidential Memorial Certificate (Form 40-0247).
Form SSA-721 to report the death (you cannot do this online), Form SSA-8 for the $255 lump-sum payment (must apply within 2 years), Form SSA-10 for surviving-spouse monthly benefits, Form SSA-4 for surviving children. Includes how to handle benefit deposits received after the date of death.
For veterans: Form 21P-530EZ for the burial allowance (up to $2,000 for service-connected deaths, $1,002 burial + $1,002 plot for non-service-connected as of October 2025), Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) for surviving spouses at $1,699.36/month tax-free as of December 2025, CHAMPVA health coverage (Form 10-10d), Chapter 35 DEA education benefits, and the surviving-spouse VA home loan with funding fee waived.
Form 56 fiduciary notice, the deceased's final Form 1040 (due April 15 of the following year), Form 1310 to claim a refund (revised December 2025), Form 706 federal estate tax (only when the estate exceeds the $15M exemption made permanent by the OBBBA), Form 1041 estate income tax (required at $600 of estate income), and the immediate online EIN process via Form SS-4.
Your state's probate court, small-estate affidavit threshold (varies from Rhode Island's $15,000 to Wyoming's $400,000), filing deadline (Florida 10 days, Illinois 30 days, Texas 4 years, Missouri 1 year), whether transfer-on-death (TOD) deeds are available for real estate, vehicle title transfer forms, and any community-property considerations.
The 13 states + DC that levy an estate tax (CT, DC, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, MN, NY, OR, RI, VT, WA) and the 5 states with an inheritance tax (KY, MD, NE, NJ, PA). Maryland is the only state with both. Includes 2025/2026 exemptions, rates, due dates, and special rules like Connecticut's required CT-706 NT filing for every estate.
The 10-year rule for non-spouse beneficiaries (with annual RMDs in years 1 to 9 now enforced as of 2025), the spouse rollover option, eligible designated beneficiaries who escape the 10-year rule, and where to search for a lost retirement account: lostandfound.dol.gov (SECURE 2.0), efast.dol.gov (Form 5500), and pbgc.gov (terminated defined-benefit plans).
How to file a life insurance claim, why beneficiary designations override the will, the 2-year contestability period, the slayer-rule protection in every state, and the free NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator that has surfaced over $13.18 billion in benefits since 2016. Plus the Lost Policy Finder tool to walk through every other search method.
The dedicated deceased-person lines for Equifax (1-888-548-7878), Experian (1-888-397-3742), and TransUnion (1-833-395-6938), how to request a "Deceased: Do Not Issue Credit" alert, what documentation to send, USPS Form 3575 to forward mail (NOT Form 1583, which is widely confused with it), and DMAchoice.org "Deceased Do Not Contact" registration.
Living trusts and successor-trustee duties (including state notice deadlines like California's 60-day rule under Prob. Code §16061.7), wills and intestate succession when there isn't one, business succession by entity type, minor children and guardianship, the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) warning before transferring property, cryptocurrency and digital assets under RUFADAA (now in 46+ states), and pet trusts (legal in all 50 states).
Read more in our life-insurance and estate glossary, our FAQ, or use the free Lost Policy Finder if you need to track down a life-insurance policy your loved one may have had.
If they were in hospice care, call the hospice 24/7 line. Otherwise call 911. Paramedics or police will pronounce death and the medical examiner may take the body. Once death is officially pronounced you can call any licensed funeral home or cremation provider; you are not required to use the one that picks up the body, and you can compare prices freely under federal law.
10 to 15 is the right starting point. You will need originals (not copies) for banks, life insurance companies, the SSA, the IRS, brokerages, the DMV, the probate court, and any retirement plan administrator. Ordering them all at once is cheaper than going back. Cost varies $5 to $32 per copy by state. The funeral home usually orders the first batch.
It depends on the state. Florida requires depositing the will within 10 days. Illinois and New Hampshire require filing within 30 days. Texas allows up to 4 years. Missouri caps probate filing at 1 year (one of the strictest in the country). Your state's specific deadline appears in the personalized plan.
In the first month: the Social Security Administration (Form SSA-721, usually filed by the funeral director), Medicare (1-800-MEDICARE), the deceased's employer, the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion), every life insurance company they had a policy with, every retirement plan administrator, the U.S. Department of State (passport return), and the state DMV and election office. The personalized plan includes phone numbers and form names for each.
Generally, the deceased's debts are paid out of their estate before anything is distributed to heirs. A surviving spouse is usually NOT personally liable except in community-property states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin) or for jointly-held debts. Do not pay the deceased's debts from your own funds before probate is opened. Talk to a probate attorney first.
It varies widely. Small-estate affidavit fees are typically under $200 in most states. Full probate runs $1,500 to $7,500+ in attorney and court fees, plus 4 to 5% of the estate value in some states (California has statutory probate fees under Prob. Code §10810). Most states have an affidavit-only process for estates below a dollar threshold that ranges from $15,000 (Rhode Island) to $400,000 (Wyoming, raised July 2025).
Most estates take 6 to 12 months. A simple estate with no real estate, no contests, and beneficiaries who cooperate can close in 4 to 6 months. Estates with real estate to sell, a business to wind down, contested wills, or federal estate-tax filings (Form 706) can take 18 months to several years. Florida summary administration after 2 years of death has its own simplified path.
State intestacy law decides who inherits, typically the surviving spouse and children first, then parents, then siblings. The court appoints an administrator (instead of an executor) and a bond is often required. The deceased's wishes about specific items, charitable gifts, or non-relatives are not honored. Get a probate attorney involved early.
There is a one-time $255 lump-sum death payment (Form SSA-8, 2-year deadline). It cannot be paid to a funeral home. Eligibility priority: surviving spouse who lived with the worker, then a spouse otherwise entitled to benefits on the worker's record, then an eligible child. Divorced spouses are not eligible. Veterans may qualify for VA burial benefits up to $2,000 for service-connected deaths.
Don't close them yet. Joint accounts usually transfer to the surviving owner automatically; show the bank a death certificate. Sole accounts go through probate and the bank will freeze them once notified. Accounts with a Payable-on-Death (POD) designation transfer to the named beneficiary on showing a death certificate. Don't pay the deceased's debts from your own funds before probate is opened.
Not always. Small-estate procedures and trusts often avoid full probate. But before transferring real estate, taking a large distribution from a retirement account, or filing an estate tax return, an attorney or CPA licensed in the state where they lived is worth the consult. This tool is general information, not legal advice.
Yes, completely free with no sign-up. Your answers are stored only in your browser's local storage on your own device. Citizens Life Group never sees them, we have no server, and closing the browser keeps them. Clearing browser data deletes them. You can also click "Clear my data" in the tool any time.
Yes. Citizens Life Group reviews the federal and state data on a 6-month cycle: every January (federal exemptions, VA rates, IRS forms) and every July (state legislative changes). Most recently reviewed by Jeff Hallman, a Florida-licensed life agent and viatical settlement broker. Last reviewed: 2026-04-25. State law and IRS rules change, so always verify any specific number with the source agency before acting.
