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After a death: the practical things
For anyone in the United States who has to deal with what comes after someone dies, while grieving. The first hours. Death certificates. The funeral, your rights and what it costs. Social Security. Who to tell. Benefits if they were a veteran. Their debts, and the collectors who call. The final tax return. And the words to say when you phone. One thing at a time.
A word with a dotted line under it, like this, opens its official definition, quoted from a U.S. government glossary.
Right now
- Can’t get through tonight? Call or text 988, at any hour. The 988 Lifeline says it is there for emotional distress, or if you just need someone to talk to. In danger, or an emergency: 911.
- Someone has just died at home? The National Institute on Aging says there is no need to move the body right away. If they were in hospice, call the hospice.
- Before you agree to a funeral price: the Federal Trade Commission says funeral directors must give you price information on the telephone if you ask.
- Social Security: 1-800-772-1213. Funeral homes generally report the death; if none is involved, you call.
More help
- For the grief itself: When someone has died, our private grief companion.
- Bills you can’t pay? When the money runs out.
- Need a lawyer and can’t pay? When you need a lawyer and can’t pay.
- They served? For veterans and the people beside them.
- You were their caregiver? When you’re caring for someone.
- A call or letter that seems off? Is this a scam?
- Someone you love is the one grieving? When you’re worried about someone.
- All our free tools and Get help now.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- After a miscarriage or a stillbirth: a miscarriage or a stillbirth: the warning signs afterwards, what the health agencies say about why, grief, and free people to talk to.
- Taxes: free help, and what to do if you can’t pay: whether you need to file, the credits many people miss, where a return is done for free, and what to do when you owe.
- When a medical bill is too much: what to check before you pay, the financial help nonprofit hospitals must offer, surprise bills, and debt collectors.
- When someone you love is dying: someone who is dying: hospice and palliative care, what Medicare pays for, keeping them comfortable, what you may see near the end, and what to say.
- When a debt collector calls: a debt collector: court papers, the first call, disputing a debt, making the calls stop, old debts, and what they can and can’t take.
- Help as you get older: one number that finds help near you, staying in your own home, help paying for Medicare, and scams.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). The facts come from USAGov, the Social Security Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Institute on Aging and the 988 Lifeline. The phone numbers, hours and statements were read on their own pages on October 1, 2026, and the parts on probate, Survivor benefit amounts and applying, VA burial allowance amounts, the final return’s due date and signer, and an inherited mortgage on October 14, 2026. Things change, and much of what follows a death is set by state law, so check before you rely on any of it. Where we did not read something, such as wills, who inherits, what a state charges for a death certificate, what happens to a car or a lease, state taxes, or local help with burial costs, the page says so and does not guess. A few lines are our own suggestions, and the page marks them as ours. This page saves nothing: no account, no cookies, nothing you tick is stored or sent, and no analytics (privacy). Scarlet Beast is not a law firm or a funeral provider, is not part of any government agency, and takes no money from anyone named here. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].