News And Resources

1) Get a legal pronouncement of Death

If your loved one died in the hospital, a doctor can take care of this for you. However, if your loved one pased at home or in another location, you will need to know who to call.  If thet passed away while in hospice care, call your hospice nurse.  If your family member wasn't  at a hospital or in hospice, call 911.

2) Arrange for organ donation, if applicable.

Check your loved one's driver's licenseand or their advance directiveto see if he or she was an organ donor.  If so let hospital staff know immediately 

(or call a nerby hospital if your loved one died at home).  Organ donation is a time-sensetive, so this is one area where it is important to act quickly. 

3) Notify close friends and family

Evey family member is different, and there is no one right way to do this.  For some families, sharing the news in person or over the phone is critical.  For other an email or text message may be alright.  If possible, split up the task between serveral family members.  

4) Decide what you would like to do with your loved one's body and arrange transportation.

First, check to see if your loved one expressed any wishes about final disposition or had made payments to a funeral  home or cremetory.  Ideally, there will be documentaton.  If no wishes or plans have been started, you have 3 main options:

* Call a funeral home

A funeral home can help you arrange either a burial or cremation,  We recommend checking reviews and prices for a few different funeral homes before making a decision, as both can vary widely.  A few minuets of research can save you thousands and reduce unwanted surprises.

* Call a direct cremation company.

While you can arrange a cremation through a funeral home, there are also cremation-specific companies that will work with you directly if you are not interestedi n the added services of a funeral director.  A direct cremation through a cremation company can be one third of the cost of a direct cremation through a funeral home.

*Call a full body donation organization.

Your loved one may have already registered to be a  body donor, so check for paperwork.  If he or she has not there are still many programs that except donation, from next of kin.  Many University medical programs rely on body donations, and other for profit companies, such as Science Care and BioGift, will cover most costs and coordinate with other research programs.  Body donation is often a good option for families who want their loved one to be able to continue to help others after death or who are looking for a more economical alternative to a traditional funeral.

5) Arrange care for any pets or dependents.

If your loved one was responsible for caring for one or more people or pets, quickly find someone who can care for them temporarily while you figure out long term plan.

6) Secure major property.

If your loved one lived on thier own, make sure his or her home and vehicles are locked up.  If it will sit vacant for some time, consider notifying the landlord and or the poloce , so they can help to keep an eye on it.  Locate and keep safe your loved one's computer, iphones, and other smart devices.  Look for APPS that lead you to finanacial and banking  intitutions, search for user name and passwords.  Locate and safeguard your loved one's financial records and recent up to 3 years of tax returns. 

7) Notify the person's employer.

If the decesed was employed (or actively voluteering), call to let them know thar your loved one has passed away.  This is also a good time to ask about pay owed, benefits and life insureance.

8) Decide on funeral plans.

If you decide to work with a funeral home, get in touch with a funeral director to go through your options.  Also  call your place of worship (church, synagogue, etc.) to coordinate funeral service.  If you opt for an immediate burial (burial without a view or funeral beforehand), cremation or donation to science, you may also choose to hold a memorial service or celebration of life at a later date.  Some people prefer this in order to give themselves more time to plan a meanful event when they've had more time to process the death.  

9) Order a casket or urn.

Historically, most people purchased caskets and urns directly through their funeral home, usually paying a substantial markup.  However, with the emergence of online shopping, it's easy to cut your costs roughly in 1/2 by purchasing a casket or urn online.  Ever loved offers a wide selection of high  quality caskets and urns at affortable prices.  

10) Ask the post office to forward mail.

If the pereson lived alone, this will prevent mail from piling up and showing the property is not occupied.  The mail may also help you identify bills that need to be paid and accounts that should be closed.  You will need to file a request at the post offfice and show that you are appointed executor and authorized to manage his or her mail.  

11) Preform a more thorough check of person's home.

Throw out any food that will expire, water plants, and look for anything else that may need regular care.

12) Create a memorial website.

A memorial website will make it easy for you to share a death announcement and any funeral plans with a larger circle of people.  This can become your primary place to share important information with everyone.

13) Write an obituary.

Draft an obituary for your loved one and get feedback from friends and family.  If your not sure where to start, try using an obituary template.  Once it's complete, determine whether you'd like to pay to have it published in your local newspaper.  Be prepared to spend a few hundred dollars if you'd like to publish it in the paper, but remember you can always publish an obituary onine for free.

14) Determine whether you'll need financial assistance.

The average funeral costs about $9,000.00 which is an enormous burden on families.  While there are many ways to save money on a funeral,  you may want to consider financial assistance.  Crowd-funding campaigns for funerals are increasingly common, and you can set up a free funeral fundraiser on your memorial website on

 "Ever Loved".

15) Look into veteran's benfits.

If your loved one was a veteran, you may be able to get financial assistance with the funeral or burial.  Find more information on www.va.gov

16) Choose your funeral participants.

If you want friends or family members to give eulogies, do readings, sing, be pallbearers or participate in another fashion, reach out and discuss this with them.

17) Set the funeral schedule.

Determine the time and place for many events, and for structual events, write down an order list of everything that will happen.

18) Determine whether you'd like to livestream the service.

Many people are unable to or choose not to attend a live service.  As a result, many people are choosing to livestream funeral events, so friends and family can participate from home.  You can set this up yourself with Zoom, Youtube, or Facebook Live.  Your funeral home may also have a streaming option available, but they're likely to charge extra for this.

19) Order printed materials and flowers.

If you want programs, praying cards, flowers or other items at the service, order them a few days in advance.  You can often order them directly through the funeral home, which will minimize coordination on your part, but you'll often be able to find a better deal by shopping around.  A memorial website can act both an online funeral program and a guest book.

20) Order a headstone.

Since headstones are rarely ready in time for a burial, you can save this task until after the funeral when you have some more time.  You'll generally be able to order a headstone through the cemetary, but you'll have more optons (and often lower prices) if you look online.

21) Order several copies of the death certificate.

You'll likely need anywhere between 5 and 10 copies or more, depending on the accounts your loved one had open.  Your funeral director may be able to help you order them, or you can order the death certificates yourself five to 10 days after the death of your loved one from vital statistics office.  In Florida order additional 2 death certificates without caused of death.

22) Contact the Social Security office.

Your funeral director may have already have donre this, so find out if this is the case.  If you need to contact social security yourself, you can reach them by phone at 1-800-772-1213.  Through Social Security you may be able to apply for survivior benefits if applicable.  Visit the Social Security website (ssa.gov) to learn more about their process and find any forms that you may be required to fill out.

23) Start the Probate process with locating the  Will and or Trust.

Keep the documents in a safe place until you , the named Personal Represntative in the Will, and the named Successor Trustee arrange for an appointment to discuss the Adminstation of the Estate and Trust with an Attorney.  If the Personal Representative and or Successor Trustee cannot attend the meeting in person, most attorneys can arrange a Zoom meeting 

24) Notify any banks or mortgage companies.

If you are unsure of what accounts may be open, use their mail or any online accountants you have access to in order to identify what accountants may be open.  Then take copies of the death certificates to each bank and change ownership of the accounts

25) Reach out to financial advisor or brokers.

Try to identify any additional fianancial and investment accounts that your loved one held.  Work with each one to transfer ownership.  You'll likley need a death certificate for each account.

26) Contact a tax accountant.

You will need to file a tax return for both the individual and the estate.

27) Notify the insurance companies.

Fill out the clain form for any insurance policies that the deceased had before his death.  Also, suggest that friends and family who may have listed your loved one on their life insurance policies to update thiers.

28) Cancel insurance policies.

This could include health insurance, car insurance, homeowner's insurance or anything else.  Depending on the policy, reach out to either the insursnce company or your loved one's employer to stop coverage.  If the deceased was on medicare, the social security office will inform them of the death, but if your loved one had Medicare (Part D) Perscription coverage, a Medicare Advantage plan and or a Medigap policy, you may need to call yourself to cancel.

29) Identify and  pay important bills.

Make a list of bills that are likely to be due (mortgage, car payments, electricity), and do your best to track down via person's mail and online accounts.  Setup a plan to ensure these bills continue to be paid on time.

30) Close credit card accounts.

Leverage your loved one's mail, wallet, and any online accounts you have access to in order to identify open credit card accounts.  For each one, you'll likely need to call customer service and then email or mail a copy of the death certificate.

31) Notify credit card reporting agencies.

Provide copies of the death certificate to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion in order to minimize the chances of identity theft.  It's also a good idea to check your loved one's credit history in another month or two to confirm that no new accounts have been opened.

32) Cancel the person's driver's license.

This will  also help to  perevent identity theft.  Go online or call Florida's DMV for instruction.  Have a copy of the death certificate ready.  Notify the local election board.  This helps reduce the risk of voter fraud in your area.

33) Close email accounts.

Once you feel confident that you have necessary information on other accounts, its a good idea to permanently close your loved one's email accounts as an additional step to prevent fraud and identity theft.  Every email provider has their own process, so do a quick online search to figure out the steps you need to take.

Contact Info:

Name: Thomas C. Walser, Esq.

Organization: Walser Law Firm

Address:  4800 N. Federal Highway, Suite 108-D, Boca Raton, FL  33431, United States

Phone: +1- 561-750-1040

Email: info@walserlaw.com

For more information, please visit: https://walserlaw.com/

Dying without a Last Will & Testament will result in your estate passing via intestacy, which simply means that your assets will be allocated to surviving relatives according to the guidelines laid out in Florida intestacy statutes. Every state passes an intestate statute which serves as a default distribution scheme to certain relatives based on how the legislature believes the majority of people would like their assets to pass. For example, most people would want their current spouse and any biological or adopted children to receive a portion of their estate, so those parties almost always have priority under intestate statutes.

What Assets Will Be Included in the Estate?

Any assets that are titled in the sole name of the person that passes away, also referred to as the decedent, will fall into their estate and will be subject to the intestate distribution. This would not include property that is held jointly with other parties such as your spouse, nor does it include assets which have a designated beneficiary, such as many brokerage accounts or IRAs. There are many assets that are typically not included in a decedent’s probate estate, such as the following:

• Property titled in the name of a revocable trust

• Life insurance proceeds

• Funds in a IRA, 401(k), or other retirement account

• Securities held in transfer-on-death account

• Payable-on-death bank accounts

• Property you own with someone else in joint tenancy or tenancy by entirety

At death, these above mentioned assets will pass to any co-owners or to the designated beneficiaries named on the account, and as such are not included as part of the decedent’s estate. Joint ownership and designated beneficiaries have priority above any provisions within estate planning documents, such as a Will or Trust because such documents only control assets that fall into the estate.

Who Gets What?

Intestate succession will depend on which family members are alive at the time of your death. Below is a quick overview of how your assets may pass:

• If you have children, but no spouse, your children inherit everything

• If you have a spouse, but no children, your spouse inherits everything

• If you have a spouse and children from you and that spouse, and no children from outside the marriage, your spouse inherits everything

• If you have a spouse and children from you and that spouse, but you also have children from another relationship, your spouse will inherit half of your intestate property and all of your children will equally share the remaining half. Your spouse’s children will not inherit.

• If you have parents but no spouse or children, your parents inherit everything

• If you have siblings but no spouse, children, or parents, your siblings will inherit everything

Do Adopted Children or Step-Children Inherit via Intestacy?

In order for your children to inherit your assets through intestate succession, Florida must legally recognize them as your children. In regard to the FL intestate statute, adopted children are treated exactly the same as biological children. Children who have been legally adopted will always be entitled to receive an intestate share from the estate of the person who adopted them. One important distinction for estate planning purposes is that if you have step-children, which have not been legally adopted by you, they will not automatically inherit under intestate succession laws. If you desire to have your step children inherit from your estate, it is important that you execute a Last Will & Testament which names them as beneficiaries.

Sometimes determining who is qualified to inherit as a child of a decedent can be complicated. For example, if you have a posthumous child, a child conceived by you but born after your death, that child will typically have standing to inherit. Another common scenario includes non-marital children, in which the decedent was not married to the mother of the child at the time of their birth. The Florida Probate Code requires that one of the three following elements be met in order to substantiate that a certain child should have standing to inherit via intestacy from the father’s estate, which include:

1. The natural parents participated in a marriage ceremony before or after the birth of the person born out of wedlock, even though the attempted marriage is void.

2. The paternity of the father is established by an adjudication before or after the death of the father.

3. The paternity of the father is acknowledged in writing by the father.

Will One Child Receive More Than the Other?

Florida follows a method of distributing a decedent’s estate known as “per stirpes.” The basic concept is that each descendant on the same generational level will inherit an equal share of the decedent’s estate, and any descendants on a younger generational level that have predeceased parents, will inherit their parent’s intended share. For example, assume that the decedent had no spouse, but had two children, a son, Alex, and a daughter, Betty. Alex had one child, Chuck, and Betty had two children, Damien and Ellie. Upon the decedent’s death:

• Alex and Betty are both alive. Therefore, they split the estate equally and both receive 50%.

o Alex-50%; Betty-50%

• If Betty dies before the decedent, then her children will receive her portion of the estate. Alex will still receive 50%, while Betty’s children will each receive 25%.

o Alex-50%; Damien-25%; Ellie-25%

• If both Alex and Betty died before the decedent, then Chuck would get Alex’s’ 50% share and Betty’s children would get her 50% share.

o Chuck-50%; Damien 25%; Ellie 25%

If you have questions regarding the intestacy laws pertaining to a loved one’s estate, it is important to seek the advice of an experienced probate attorney. The highly skilled Florida probate attorneys at Walser Law Firm can assist you with all your probate needs. Call our Florida office at (561) 750-1040 to schedule a consultation today or fill out our contact form.

Contact Info:

Name: Thomas C. Walser, Esq.

Organization: Walser Law Firm

Address:  4800 N. Federal Highway, Suite 108-D, Boca Raton, FL  33431, United States

Phone: +1- 561-750-1040

Email: info@walserlaw.com

For more information, please visit: https://walserlaw.com/