Loss Guide
Clear, step-by-step guidance for handling everything after a loss.
When someone dies, there are dozens of things that need to be done and no one tells you what they are. Loss Guide walks you through it all, one task at a time.
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What to Do When Someone Dies: A Complete Checklist
A step-by-step timeline of what needs to happen after someone dies, from the first hours through the first six months. Covers funeral arrangements, death certificates, financial accounts, probate, insurance, taxes, and more.
The First 48 Hours After a Death: What to Do Right Now
A step-by-step guide to the immediate tasks after someone dies: getting the pronouncement, contacting the funeral home, notifying family, securing the home, ordering death certificates, and finding the will.
Guides
Practical answers to the questions you are probably asking right now.
How Probate Works (and When You Can Skip It)
A plain-language guide to the probate process: what it is, how long it takes, what it costs, and when you can avoid it entirely with small estate affidavits, living trusts, and other alternatives.
How to Get Death Certificates: Everything You Need to Know
A complete guide to ordering certified death certificates, including how many you need, what they cost, and where to get them.
Closing Financial Accounts After a Death: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to close or transfer bank accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, and loans after someone dies. Includes what documents you need and who is responsible for the debt.
Am I Responsible for a Deceased Person's Debt?
Who pays a deceased person's debts, whether you're responsible for a parent's debt after they die, and how to handle debt collectors. Covers co-signed loans, community property states, filial responsibility laws, and Medicaid estate recovery.
What Does an Executor Actually Do?
A practical guide to executor responsibilities after someone dies. Covers the full timeline of duties, how executors get paid, personal liability risks, and what to do if you want to decline the role.
Handling an Estate Without a Will
What happens when someone dies without a will. How intestate succession works, who the court appoints to manage the estate, who inherits, and what it means for blended families, unmarried partners, and stepchildren.
What is Loss Guide?
Loss Guide is a free checklist and resource library designed for people navigating the practical side of a death. Filing for probate, closing accounts, transferring titles, notifying agencies — we cover what needs to happen, in what order, with plain language and zero jargon.
This is not legal advice. It is a starting point so you know what questions to ask and what steps to take.