The First Things to Do When Someone Dies
A calm 48–72 hour sequence for pronouncement, funeral arrangements, securing the home, finding documents, and delaying non-urgent money decisions.
42 practical guides
Browse by situation
Choose the problem in front of you now. Probate rules vary by state, so state-specific steps are marked inside the guides.
5 guides
Someone just died
The first week: certificates, notifications, funeral logistics, and protecting property.
How Many Certified Death Certificates You'll Actually Need
How to estimate certified-copy needs by listing claimants, separating originals from photocopies, and ordering more without wasting money.
Who to Notify After a Death: A Sequenced Checklist
A notification order that separates time-sensitive government and benefit notices from financial accounts, property contacts, mail, and subscriptions.
Securing the Home, Car, and Valuables After a Death
How to protect a home, vehicle, pets, insurance coverage, mail, and valuables before probate authority and final ownership are settled.
Finding the Will and the Documents You Need
Where to look for the original will, why it matters, and how to build the deed, title, account, insurance, and tax file needed for administration.
5 guides
Figuring out if probate is needed
Wills, no-will estates, small-estate paths, non-probate assets, and opening a court case.
Do You Even Need Probate?
A property-by-property way to decide whether probate is needed, rather than assuming every death requires a full court case.
The Small-Estate Affidavit: When You Can Skip Probate
What small-estate affidavits actually do, how state thresholds and waiting periods differ, and why real-property treatment must be checked state by state.
Filing to Open Probate: The Basic Steps
A state-aware walk-through of selecting the right court, filing the petition and will, giving notice, attending appointment proceedings, and obtaining Letters.
When There's No Will: How Intestate Succession Works
How state intestacy law replaces the missing will for probate property, who may seek appointment, and why family structure must be mapped before distribution.
Probate When There's Property in More Than One State
How a primary probate can pair with an ancillary proceeding when the decedent owned real estate in another state, and what documents the second court may need.
9 guides
Handling their accounts and assets
Bank, POD/TOD, investments, retirement, life insurance, digital property, and household belongings.
Handling the Deceased's Bank Accounts
How to sort POD, joint, and sole-name bank accounts after a death, stop inappropriate transactions, and move estate funds without mixing personal money.
POD, TOD, and Beneficiary Designations: The Fast Path
How POD, TOD, insurance, retirement, and other beneficiary designations can bypass probate—and what to verify before treating an asset as non-probate.
Claiming a Life Insurance Policy
How beneficiaries locate a policy, submit a claim, compare payout options, and keep direct life-insurance proceeds separate from estate property.
Inherited Retirement Accounts: What You're Looking At
A first-look inventory for inherited IRAs and workplace plans: identify account type, beneficiary status, owner age, and RMD history before moving money.
If You're a Spouse Inheriting an IRA
A spouse-beneficiary decision map for inherited versus own-IRA treatment, with attention to age, RMD timing, and early-distribution rules.
Non-Spouse Beneficiary: The 10-Year Rule and RMDs
A non-spouse map for the SECURE Act 10-year rule, eligible-designated-beneficiary exceptions, and annual RMDs when the owner died after the RBD.
Inherited Brokerage Accounts and Individual Stocks
How to transfer or sell inherited securities while preserving beneficiary registration, date-of-death value, fractional-share, dividend, and cost-basis records.
Digital Accounts, Photos, and Subscriptions After Death
A preservation-first workflow for email, cloud photos, phones, social accounts, subscriptions, password managers, and crypto after a death.
Dividing Personal Property and Heirlooms Without a Fight
A transparent process for inventorying, valuing, selecting, and documenting household property so sentimental items do not derail the estate.
6 guides
Selling their house or car
Inherited homes, mortgages, title transfer, appraisal, sale, escrow, and tax basis.
The Mortgage on an Inherited House: Options
How to document successor status, keep an inherited home loan current, and compare keeping, assuming, refinancing, or selling the property.
Keeping vs. Selling an Inherited House: A Decision Framework
A practical way for heirs to compare keeping, renting, buying out co-heirs, or selling an inherited home while accounting for costs and title issues.
Stepped-Up Basis: Why It Matters When You Sell
How inherited-property basis generally works, why date-of-death fair market value matters, and what records to preserve before a later sale.
Selling an Inherited House: The Process Start to Finish
An estate-sale workflow from authority and title review through cleanout, listing, escrow, payoff, closing, and deposit of proceeds.
Escrow and Closing When the Seller Is an Estate
Why estate sales need extra authority documents at escrow, how title and mortgage payoffs clear, and where net proceeds usually go.
Transferring a Car Title After Death
A DMV-first workflow for a deceased owner’s vehicle: check title and TOD status, preserve insurance, and choose the correct transfer route.
3 guides
Dealing with debts and creditors
Estate debts, claims, collector calls, and what relatives usually do and do not owe.
Notifying Creditors and the Claims Window
How an executor identifies known creditors, handles publication and direct notice under state law, reviews claims, and avoids paying in the wrong order.
Debts of the Deceased: Who Actually Has to Pay
A practical distinction between estate debts and a survivor’s own liability, including co-signers, joint accounts, state marital rules, and insolvent estates.
Debt Collectors Calling About a Dead Relative: Your Rights
How relatives and estate representatives can verify collector calls, avoid false personal liability, and document communications under federal debt rules.
9 guides
You're the executor or administrator
Letters, EIN, estate banking, inventory, accounting, distributions, disputes, and compensation.
Getting Officially Appointed and What "Letters" Let You Do
What court appointment changes, how Letters Testamentary differ from Letters of Administration, and why institutions demand certified proof of authority.
Getting an EIN (Tax ID) for the Estate
Why a probate estate generally uses its own EIN, who applies, how Form SS-4 fits, and how to avoid mixing the decedent’s SSN with post-death estate income.
Opening and Running the Estate Bank Account
How to open an estate checking account, route estate income and expenses through it, preserve receipts, and avoid commingling with the executor’s money.
Taking an Inventory and Getting Things Appraised
How to build a date-of-death asset inventory, document valuation evidence, separate probate and tax records, and decide when a qualified appraisal is useful.
The Executor's Duties: A Master Checklist
A phase-by-phase executor checklist from appointment through inventory, creditors, taxes, distributions, accounting, and discharge.
Executor Mistakes That Create Personal Liability
The executor errors that create avoidable exposure: commingling, early distributions, self-dealing, weak records, ignored claims, and tax mistakes.
When Heirs or Beneficiaries Disagree
A practical way to separate valuation, interpretation, information, and personal-property disputes before an estate conflict hardens.
Executor Compensation: What You Can and Can't Take
How executor fees differ from expense reimbursement, why compensation rules vary by state, and what records to keep before paying yourself.
When You Actually Need a Probate Attorney or CPA
A decision guide for when court self-help may be enough and when legal, tax, valuation, or litigation complexity justifies professional help.
5 guides
Taxes and closing the estate
Final Form 1040, Form 1041, estate tax, final accounting, timing, and closing the file.
The Deceased's Final Income Tax Return (Form 1040)
How the final individual Form 1040 differs from estate tax returns, what period it covers, who signs, and when Form 1310 may be needed for a refund.
Income the Estate Earns: Form 1041
When a decedent estate may need Form 1041, how its tax year works, what the $600 federal gross-income threshold means, and why K-1s matter.
Federal Estate Tax vs. State Estate and Inheritance Taxes
A 2026 map of federal estate tax, portability, and the separate state estate or inheritance tax questions executors must check.
Closing the Estate: Final Accounting and Distribution
How to reconcile the estate, prepare a clear final accounting, obtain approvals or receipts, make final distributions, and close the probate file.
How Long Settling an Estate Really Takes
A dependency-based estate timeline showing what can run in parallel, what must wait, and why probate often takes months rather than weeks.