Notify family, friends, and business colleagues

Make a list of those each by phone. You may wish to use a "branching" system; make a few phone calls to other relatives or friends and ask each of them to make a phone call or two to specific people.

Assign tasks

Delegate special needs of the household, such as cleaning, food preparation, etc., to friends and family who offer their help. Arrange for family members and/or close friends to take turns answering the door or phone (keeping a careful record of visitors and flower deliveries will make it easier to thank people later on). Arrange for child care, if necessary.

Notify the bank, insurance company, utility companies, lawyer & executor.

1. If Social Security checks are deposited automatically, notify the bank of the death.
2. Carefully check all life and casualty insurance and death benefits, including Social Security, credit union, trade union, fraternal, and military (check on possible income for survivors from these sources).
3. Be sure to locate the will prior to contacting the lawyer and executor.
4. Also, if the deceased was living alone, notify the utility companies and landlord and tell the post office where to send mail.

Check promptly on all debts and installment payments, including credit cards. Some may carry insurance clauses that will cancel them. If there is to be a delay in meeting payments, consult with creditors and ask for more time before the payments are due.

Arrange accommodations for visiting relatives and friends.

Choose pallbearers and notify the funeral home with the names of those to be involved. People with heart or back difficulties may be named honorary pallbearers.

Keep track of those to receive acknowledgments of flowers, calls, etc. Send appropriate acknowledgments, which may be a written note, printed acknowledgments, or both. Include "thank you's" to those who have given their time, as well.