What can wait
The checklists make everything feel urgent. Most of it isn't. This page tells you what actually has deadlines — and gives you explicit permission to leave everything else for later.
Must be done soon — days to weeks
These items have real consequences if delayed: financial fraud, missed legal deadlines, or coverage gaps.
- Secure their phone: prevent SIM swap fraud. Do this within 48 hours.
- Notify their bank: freeze accounts against unauthorized transactions. This week.
- Order death certificates: you need 10–15. Order immediately through the funeral home.
- Notify health insurance: dependents have strict enrollment windows for replacement coverage. This week.
- Notify employer: stops direct deposits, starts any death benefit process. This week.
- Notify Social Security: confirm the funeral home has done this; any payment after the date of death must be returned.
- Notify credit bureaus: place a deceased alert to prevent identity theft. First month.
Should be done eventually — weeks to months
These matter but aren't emergencies. Do them when you have the bandwidth.
- Close bank accounts and credit cards (requires death certificate and legal authority)
- File life insurance claims (30–60 day processing time; no need to rush the filing)
- Cancel subscriptions and recurring services
- Transfer or cancel utilities
- File the final tax return (due April 15 of the following year)
- Transfer or sell the vehicle
Whenever you're ready — no deadline
These can wait as long as you need. There is no urgency here.
- Social media — memorialization or deletion happens when you're ready
- Email archival — keep the account open; download and close it when you've finished using it
- Loyalty programs — airline miles, hotel points, rewards accounts
- Streaming services — they'll charge another month; that's fine
- Digital photos — download before eventually closing accounts, but there's no rush
- Deciding what to keep — voicemails, texts, emails, photos. This decision doesn't have a deadline.
You are allowed to not do everything right now. You are allowed to do one thing today and stop. You are allowed to not start until next week. The accounts that don't have deadlines will wait. The ones that do are listed above, clearly.
Grief doesn't run on a schedule. The paperwork, mostly, can.