WHAT TO DO IN THE
FIRST 48 HOURS AFTER A DEATH.

The First Day

1. Get a legal pronouncement of death. In a hospital or hospice this happens automatically. At home, call 911 or the hospice nurse; they will handle it.
2. Call the funeral home. If the person chose one, call them. If not, ask family or the hospice for a recommendation. The funeral home transports the body and begins the paperwork for death certificates.
3. Tell the people who need to know today. Immediate family, the closest friends, the employer. Everyone else can be told tomorrow.
4. Secure the home, the pets, and the car. Lock up, arrange care for animals, move valuables out of sight if the home will be empty.
5. Find the instructions. A will, a folder, a When I Croak map. If there is a map, activate it: The Guide will take the list from here.

The Second Day

1. Order death certificates — at least ten. Every bank, insurer and agency will want an original. The funeral home usually orders them.
2. Locate the will and call the attorney named in it. Do not distribute anything. The attorney tells you what the estate can and cannot do yet.
3. Make a list of every account and policy you know of. Statements, mail, the person's phone. This is the list that takes families months when nothing was written down.
4. Do not pay bills or creditors yet. The estate pays debts in a legal order. Paying early can be a mistake that cannot be undone. The funeral home and utilities are the exceptions.
5. Stop. Two days is enough. Everything else holds until next week.

What Can Wait Until Week Two

Life insurance claims, Social Security, employer benefits, bank notifications, subscription cancellations, the DMV, the post office. All important. None of it urgent.

What Families Most Often Cannot Find

Life insurance policies nobody knew existed. Accounts at a former employer. The deed. Who the attorney was. Phone and email passwords. These are the gaps the 48-Hour Test measures — and the reason the map exists.