After a death checklist

The calls, the copies, and the payments that have a clock on them.

What to do in the first 72 hours after a deathThe five things that are genuinely time-sensitive, the popular advice that causes harm if you follow it this week, and why calling 911 can be the wrong call.Eleven minutes How to get a death certificateWho is allowed to request a certified copy, where to order it, what it costs in your state, and why the funeral home's price may not be the state's price.Five minutes How many death certificates do I need?A working number, and the list of institutions that require an original rather than a copy.Four minutes How to notify Social Security of a deathWho reports it, which payment has to go back and which one does not, and the $255 rule most families get wrong.Four minutes Social Security survivor benefitsWho qualifies and for how much, the strategy the 2015 law left intact for widows only, and why nobody from Social Security is going to call you.Six minutes Small estate affidavitWhat it can move, what it almost never moves, why "no court involved" is only true in some states, and the liability you take on by signing.Seven minutes

Other topics

Advance directive and healthcare proxy Power of attorney Cremation costs and planning Aging parents and caregiving Wills and estate planning Funeral preplanning Cemetery plots and burial Digital legacy and emergency planning

Reading is not the work. Writing it down is.

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