Guides
Practical guides to help you handle estate, legal, and financial tasks after someone dies.
Start Here
Comprehensive guides covering the most common questions.
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.
How Much Does a Funeral Cost?
National average funeral costs for burial and cremation, what funeral homes charge for, the FTC Funeral Rule, and practical ways to reduce expenses.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Transferring Property and Vehicles After a Death
How to transfer a car title, real estate deed, and other property after someone dies, including when you can skip probate.
A Survivor's Guide to Benefits and Taxes After a Death
How to claim Social Security survivor benefits, file taxes for a deceased person, and collect life insurance, pension, and veterans benefits after a death.
More Guides
Shorter guides on specific topics that come up after a loss.
How to Plan a Funeral With No Money
Options for families who cannot afford funeral costs, including county indigent burial programs, veteran benefits, body donation, and charitable assistance.
How to Close a Bank Account After Someone Dies
Step-by-step instructions for closing a bank account after a death, with specific procedures and phone numbers for Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and US Bank.
How to Find Out If a Deceased Person Had Life Insurance
How to search for a deceased person's life insurance policy using the NAIC Policy Locator, employer records, state unclaimed property databases, and other methods.
Managing Digital Assets After a Death
How to handle a deceased person's digital assets, including cryptocurrency, PayPal and Venmo balances, cloud storage, email accounts, password managers, and digital photos.
Inheriting Firearms After a Death
What you need to know about inheriting guns after a death, including federal transfer rules, NFA items, state permit requirements, and how to surrender or sell firearms you don't want.
Cleaning Out a Deceased Person's Home
How to sort through a deceased person's belongings, what documents to keep, how to handle medications, and when to get professional help.
Grief Brain Fog: Why You Can't Think Straight After a Loss
What grief brain fog is, why it happens, how long it lasts, and practical ways to manage daily life while your brain recovers.
Guides by Topic
State-by-state guides organized by topic. Each covers all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Probate & Estates
State-by-state probate requirements, small estate thresholds, intestate succession, and how to navigate the court process.
Death Certificates
How to order death certificates in each state: costs, processing times, who can request them, and online ordering options.
Funeral Costs
Average funeral and cremation costs by state, regulations, pre-need planning, and ways to reduce expenses.
Guides by State
Find all guides for your state in one place.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming