We are sorry. Here is what usually happens next.
There is nothing you are required to do today, or this week. Almost everything below has a deadline measured in months, and the few that are shorter are marked. This page will still be here. You can leave it and come back.
The whole road, in order
11 steps · typical span 9–18 months- Certified copies of the death certificatefirst week
Ten certified copies from the funeral home. Almost every later step needs one.
- Find out whether there is a willfirst month
Check with the person's attorney, safe deposit box, or the Clerk of Superior Court where they lived.
- Work out whether you need probate at allmonth 1-2
Small estates and property held jointly or in trust often pass without a full probate proceeding.
- Open the estate with the Clerk of Superior Courtmonth 1-2
The Clerk in the county where your spouse lived qualifies an executor or administrator.
- Notify Social Securitymonth 1
The funeral home often reports the death, but confirming directly protects survivor benefits.
- If he served: VA survivor benefitsmonth 1-2
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation and other survivor benefits have their own filing window.
Veterans - Publish notice to creditorsmonth 2-3
Required by statute; it starts the clock on when creditor claims against the estate expire.
- Inventory the estatemonth 3
A sworn list of everything the estate owns, filed with the Clerk.
- Retitle property and vehiclesmonth 3-9
Real estate, vehicle titles, and financial accounts are transferred out of the estate.
- Final income tax return, and estate tax if it appliesby April
A final personal return is due the following April; most estates owe no separate estate tax.
- Final accounting and closing the estatemonth 9-18
A final accounting to the Clerk closes the estate and discharges the executor.
Produces a one-sheet checklist with your county's Clerk of Superior Court address filled in. Choose your county to fill this in automatically.
Email it once. We do not keep it.