Family Checklist

We offer this helpful list as a guide to personal and financial issues that may need to be addressed by family members.

 

1. Send acknowledgement cards for flowers, memorial donations, food, spiritual remembrances


2. Transfer of real estate
• Apply for Widowed Person Exemption
• Apply for Homestead and Disabilities


3. Notify insurance companies and file claims
• Life insurance
• Medical, health, disability, travel, and accident insurance
• Retirement benefits and annuities
• Homeowners insurance
• Car insurance
• Change survivor's beneficiary


4. Apply for appropriate benefits
• Social Security survivors benefits
• Veterans burial and survivors benefits
• Pension benefits (contact spouse's place of employment)
• Workmen's compensation benefits
• Civil service benefits
• Railroad retirement benefits


5. Notify Stockbroker
• Change ownership of joint or solely-owned stock
• IRA and retirement accounts
• Transfer bonds
• Mutual or other funds


6. Notify bank
• Change all jointly held accounts
• Cancel direct deposit benefits payment
• Re-establish safe deposit box
• Re-establish all outstanding mortgages, personal notes, etc.
• Apply for credit life insurance which may exist on loans, credit cards and mortgages
• Certificate of Deposit (CD)
• Individual Retirement Account (IRA)


7. Notify credit bureaus
• TransUnion: P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022 / transunion.com
• Equifax: P.O. Box 105069, Atlanta, GA 30348 / equifax.com
• Experian: P.O. Box 9530, Allen, TX 75013 / experian.com


8. Notify Department of Motor Vehicles
• Transfer titles of all registered vehicles
• Cancel driver's license
• Cancel voter registration


9. Notify all credit card companies
• Apply for credit life insurance
• Cancel all individually held credit cards
• Change all jointly held accounts


10. Notify attorney, accountant, tax consultant
• If a will must be probated
• If your will needs to be revised
• For income tax purposes


11. Advanced planning
You may want to consider pre-arranging your funeral. It's a sensible, caring way to relieve your loved ones from the burden of having to make decisions during an emotionally difficult time.