What to do immediately after death NJ

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What to Do When a Loved One Dies Call 911 right away if there is an unexpected death in your home. The medical team will help you figure out the next steps. If the deceased was receiving hospice care, call the hospice. -If a death is expected to happen soon, call your doctor or your hospice to discuss what to do when or if a death happens in your home. -Most deaths occur in hospitals and other places such as nursing homes. Talk to the staff about their process. https://www.legalvoice.org/after-death-occurs-checklist To Do Immediately After Someone Dies Get a legal pronouncement of death If your loved one died in a hospital or nursing home where a doctor was present, the staff will handle this. An official declaration of death is the first step to getting a death certificate, a critical piece of paperwork. But if your relative died at home, especially if it was unexpected, you'll need to get a medical professional to declare her dead. To do this, call 911 soon after she passes and have her transported to an emergency room where she can be declared dead and moved to a funeral home. If your family member died at home under hospice care, a hospice nurse can declare him dead. Without a declaration of death, you can't plan a funeral much less handle the deceased's legal affairs. Tell friends and family Send out a group text or mass email, or make individual phone calls to let people know their loved one has died. To track down all those who need to know, go through the deceased's email and phone contacts. Inform coworkers and the members of any social groups or church the person belonged to. Ask the recipients to spread the word by notifying others connected to the deceased. Put a post about the death on social media. Find out about existing funeral and burial plans "Ideally, you had the opportunity to talk with your loved one about his or her wishes for funeral or burial,” writes Sally Balch , an elder law attorney and author of Checklist for Family Survivors. If you didn't, she advises you look for a letter of instruction in the deceased's papers or call a family meeting to have the first conversation about what the funeral will look like. This is critical if he left no instructions. You need to discuss what the person wanted in terms of a funeral, what you can afford and what the family wants. Within a Few Days of Death Make funeral, burial or cremation arrangements • Search the paperwork to find out if there was a prepaid burial plan. If not, you'll need to choose a funeral home and decide on specifics like where the service will be held, whether to cremate, where the body or ashes will be interred and what type of tombstone or urn to order. It's a good idea to research funeral prices to help you make informed decisions. • If the person was in the military or belonged to a fraternal or religious group, contact the Veterans Administration or the specific organization to see if it offers burial benefits or conducts funeral services. • Get help with the funeral. Line up relatives and friends to be pallbearers, to eulogize, to plan the service, to keep a list of well-wishers, to write thank-you notes and to arrange the post-funeral gathering. • Get a friend or relative who is a wordsmith to write an obituary. Secure the property Lock up the deceased's home and vehicle. Ask a friend or relative to water the plants, get the mail and throw out the food in the refrigerator. If there are valuables, such as jewelry or cash, in the home, lock them up. “You have to watch out for valuable personal effects walking out,” Harbison says. Provide care for pets Make sure pets have caretakers until there's a permanent plan for them. Send them to stay with a relative who likes animals or board them at a kennel. Forward ma l Go to the post office and put in a forwarding order to send the mail to yourself or whoever is working with you to see to the immediate affairs. You don't want mail piling up at the deceased's home, telegraphing to the world that the property is empty. This is also the first step in finding out what subscriptions, creditors and other accounts will need to be canceled or paid. source AARP, Ken Vercammen has been an AARP member since 2013 source https://www.aarp.org/home-family/friends-family/info-2020/when-loved-one-dies-checklist.html?request_locale=en&transId=Login-2f49e41c-11e9-4934-ba37-ef720325eabe&cmp=EMC-DSM-TRG-OTH--PasswordResetTransactional_CTRL_294800_366401--Body1-RESETPASSWORD-CTA_Button-CTRL-4503718&encparam=CimwQdmT2vfoXFIpQ/QnmQ==&intcmp=DSO-HDR-LOGIN