The short answer
Once the death has been pronounced, the next call is usually to a funeral home. Give it your parent's Social Security number, because it usually reports the death to Social Security for you.
Then tell close family. Most other calls can wait a few days, and some can wait a month.
This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.
What to do
- Call a funeral home, or two, and ask their prices.
- Have your parent's Social Security number ready for the funeral director.
- Tell close family, or ask one person to do it.
- Choose one person to answer the phone for you.
- Write down every call: the date, the name and what was said.
- Give each person who offers help one real job.
What can wait
- Banks, insurers and most offices, apart from the bank about any Social Security deposit, and the home insurer if the house will stand empty.
- Thank-you notes.
- Wide announcements, and posts for everyone to see.
Who can help
The funeral director can tell you which calls come next, and which can wait. If there was hospice, ask for the hospice social worker.
A friend outside the family can take the calls you can't face, even from another city.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’, courts’ and organizations’ own pages in October 2026. Where a rule differs by state, the book names one state as an example. Check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 1: The First Month
This page has the short answer and the closing lists from chapter 2. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers the first month after the death.
Questions near this one
Other questions on related subjects, from this book and the others.
- Who tells Social Security and the other offices? Book 1, The First Month
- What can wait until after the funeral? Book 1, The First Month
- How many death certificates do I need, and how do I get them? Book 1, The First Month
- What if the death was sudden, or far from home? Book 1, The First Month
Hear when The First Month is out
A short note when each book is out. Five or six emails a year at most. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.