A Death Has Occured. Now What?

     While the news of your loved ones death is still fresh in your mind, you will be called upon to contact family members, employers, attorneys, funeral homes, and financial advisers to inform them of your loved ones passing. You will also be called upon to start making very important decisions.

     Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones who's loved one was willing to detail all of their vital statistics, financial, and benefit history. Also, about how they would want to celebrate their life, including funeral arrangements, memorial services, how they would like to be interred etc... If your not one of the lucky ones, you may not know where to start.

     In addition to being faced with mounds of paperwork, learning new terminology, and making major decisions that will affect your family for generations to come, you are going to be struggling with grief. In fact, your grief will include overwhelming emotions which can make it very difficult to make major decisions, and concentrate on any information regarding money, property, and other details that are not going to be the first thing on your mind. No matter how smart you may be, your grief will dominate and make focusing on routine tasks seem next to impossible.

     Widows, and widowers often make huge errors in judgement because they are thinking with their hearts, and not with their heads. That is why I strongly suggest that you bring a trusted friend, or family member along with you to any meetings you have with attorneys, banks, financial advisers etc... to ask questions on your behalf.

     In the hours following the passing of your loved one you will need to notify, or assign someone to notify the following people:

1. Relatives
2. Friends
3. Church members, and Clergy
4. Their business associates
5. Their attorney
6. Their executor/executrix
7. Any financial advisers they may have
8. Their accountant
9. A funeral director
10. Their employer
11. Insurance agents
12. Hospital/Organ bank if they are a organ donor. (check their drivers license, or see if they have a organ donor card in their wallet/purse).

     The first few hours are often the hardest to deal with. Contacting the above listed people will help ensure a smooth start to dealing with all of the 100 + decisions that are going to need to be made in the first 36 hours.