FUNERAL CHECKLIST

Death is a difficult thing to deal with. And sometimes it happens unexpectedly. But if you have the wherewithal to think about somethings ahead of time, you can reduce the stress you will encounter going through the funeral preparation process. Last year I experienced the passing of my spouse of 42 years, so this experience was quite traumatic for me. However, God prepared me for this to a degree. I had the experience of orchestrating two previous funerals-my mother’s and my father’s. But I will be very honest and tell you that I could not have done this one without the help and support of my two daughters. I just didn’t have the energy I had when my parents passed away more than 30 years ago.

So, I would like to share with you some things you’ll have to address. The list is overwhelming, however there are some duties that you can delegate to others. The more relatives or friends you can delegate duties to, the better. You can use this as a sample. This involves the survivors preparing to relocate a few months after the funeral.

                  1^st Person                          2nd Person                                3^rd Person

Verify date of death; authorize autopsy	Get financial statements from #3 person	Work on Deceased Bedroom
Give name of funeral home to hospital	Call creditors regarding any balances	Clean out Closets
Call Life Insurance co. regarding death	Have any balances not written off sent to the estate.	Group clothes by category (ie. Dresses)
Call Social security regarding death	Go through voicemails on landline	Take pictures of items to be donated
Social Security will notify Medicare	Go through emails on phone & close out	Bag and label items to be donated
Call Medigap regarding death	Respond to Facebook condolences	Contact Charitable Org. & schedule p/u
Notify all doctors regarding death	Remove from Facebook	Empty All dresser drawers
Notify Pastor of church regarding death	Remove from Twitter	Look for important Papers
Notify relatives and friends re: death	Remove from Instagram	Separate financial papers from rest
Determine type of memorial	Remove from present Mobile Company	Give financial papers to Executor
Ask who would to speak	Move over to different Mobile Company	Bag non-dd valuables
If music-determine what/number of songs	Send death certificates to necessary part,	Strip Bed
Coordinate details with pastor	Create family plan for 2nd member	Throw out given items
Relay vital statistics to funeral director	Prepare to downsize primary member	Vacuum room
Order death certificates	Inform Rental agencies of departure	Throw out trash
Order urn	Look for new housing	Arrange for removal of furniture
Write obituary	Do number crunching for future housing.	Put on sites to sell
Write Send off	Determine charitable org for donors	Take pictures of and label items
Pickup Ashes and death certificates	Determine what to do with flowers	Determine pricing.
Get money from Insurance Cancel driver’s license (if necessary)	Terminate Mobile Phone Fwd mail to the Estate	Call maintenance. Spvr for removal of items not sold or given away
Pay funeral director	Call Moving company to store furniture	Order pkg boxes
Pay balances on debts	Determine new apartment	Start Packing
Prepare for memorial	Call moving company (         ) to move
Write thank you notes as they come in	Establish Moving date
	Say goodbyes & Pack

Please note that there both online resources and books available for sale that outline what has to be done. These books also help you to manage your loved one’s estate without the use of a lawyer. This helps when there is not much money in the estate. If you hire an attorney to manage your will, he will arrange to get paid first, and you the executor may not have anything left.

So, whether or not you hire a lawyer, always pay the Funeral Director first. And order about 25 death certificates from the funeral director so you will have enough to take care of your estate business. They will have the original seal on them. And get the same number of Surrogates letters from the County Surrogate’s office.

Get an Estate Account at your bank. They will help you set up a checking account so that you can pay the bills of the deceased. You will have to get a State L-8 form and an EIN Number, provide the death certificate of the deceased and proof that you are the executor of the estate.

If there isn’t a lot of money in the estate after you pay the funeral director, total up all the debts, and then prorate the distributions to the creditors. In other words, give the most to the largest creditor and the least to the smallest creditor. And when the money is gone (depleted), it’s gone.

Write each creditor and inform him or her of the situation and tell the creditor what percentage of the money he or she is getting. If necessary, tell them how you arrived at that percentage. You are not liable for any of the deceased debts unless you were a co-owner or you co-signed for that product or loan. Keep copious notes in case you get audited.

CONCLUSION

You can eliminate a lot of stress with some planning ahead when dealing with funeral arrangements.

Was this helpful?. If you have anything you’d like to add or share that would help others, feel free to tell us. We all are a work in progress.

God bless you and may He comfort you as you keep your eyes upon Jesus.