The after-death checklist — every task, in its right week

How to use this after death checklist

An after death checklist works because it answers the question grief keeps asking: what am I forgetting? The honest answer is that almost everything can wait longer than it feels. Only a handful of tasks belong to the first days; the rest distribute comfortably across a month. Work through the sections in order, delegate freely among family members, and tick things off — the visible progress is itself a comfort. Where a task involves us, one call handles it; where it involves officialdom, our documentation support is part of every funeral we arrange.

The first days

• Verification and the funeral call — covered step by step in what to do when someone dies; if you are reading this checklist first, start there.
• Locate key documents — passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, any will, insurance policies, and Death Committee or funeral plan membership. A single folder or box for everything death-related will serve you for months.
• Register the death — within five days; our registration guide covers the appointment, the green form and how many death certificates to buy (most families need four to eight).
• Use Tell Us Once — offered at registration; one reference number notifies HMRC, DWP, DVLA, the Passport Office and the council. Accept it; it dissolves a dozen calls.
• Settle known debts of the deceased — Islam attaches urgency to this; where debts exist and funds allow, early settlement is a duty the Prophet ﷺ emphasised repeatedly.
• Secure the essentials — the deceased's home (locks, lights, post), any pets, and any perishables; cancel carers or meal deliveries.

The first two weeks

• Banks and building societies — use the free Death Notification Service to inform multiple banks at once; accounts are frozen (joint accounts usually continue) and funeral invoices can typically be paid directly from the deceased's account on presentation of the bill and death certificate — a fact that relieves many families.
• Employer or pension providers — final salary, death-in-service benefits and workplace pensions all begin with one call to HR; for the state pension, Tell Us Once has already acted.
• Insurers — life insurance first (claims are usually straightforward with a death certificate), then home, car and travel policies in the deceased's name.
• Landlord or mortgage lender — tenancies and mortgages both have bereavement procedures; nothing dramatic happens quickly, but early notice keeps everything orderly.
• Utilities and council tax — transfer or close accounts; a single-occupant discount may now apply to a surviving spouse.

The first month

• The will and probate — locate any will (home papers, solicitor, or the national will register); the named executor applies for probate where the estate requires it. Under Islamic inheritance principles, families often also consult a scholar alongside the legal process — we can suggest where to find both kinds of guidance.
• Remaining accounts and subscriptions — phone contracts, streaming services, memberships, online accounts; a month's bank statements will surface anything forgotten.
• DVLA and vehicles — transfer or SORN any vehicle, and return the driving licence if Tell Us Once has not already handled it.
• Mail redirection — Royal Mail's redirection for the deceased prevents distressing post and catches organisations everyone missed.
• The memorial conversation — never urgent, and better after the ground settles; our memorials service explains timings honestly.

Tasks of the heart

Between the practical entries, keep the ones no checklist usually mentions. Continue the dua — it reaches your loved one, always. Arrange the charity your family intends in their name, whether a one-off Sadaqah or something lasting; our guide to benefitting the deceased maps the possibilities. Visit the grave; the Prophet ﷺ encouraged it as a reminder and a mercy. And watch over the living — the parent now alone, the sibling who went quiet. Administration ends; care does not.

A note on timing and mercy

Nothing on this list, apart from registration and urgent debts, carries a real deadline measured in days. Organisations deal with bereaved families constantly and expect delays; not one of them will penalise a fortnight's silence. If a task feels too heavy this week, it will still be there next week, lighter. And if any item raises a question — a form you don't understand, an office that won't answer — call us on 0300 102 1786. Helping after the funeral is part of the service, not an extra.

Dividing the list without dividing the family

The checklist works best assigned, not shared: one sibling owns officialdom (registration, Tell Us Once, banks), another owns the household (post, utilities, the parent's home), a third owns the religious continuities (the Khatam, the charity, the grave visits) — and everyone reports into one family conversation each week rather than thirty daily messages. Elders should be given honoured, bounded roles rather than the whole weight; teenagers can own real tasks (mail redirection, cancelling subscriptions) and grow from being trusted with them. And the family member who was closest caregiver before the death should, if at all possible, be assigned the least — their grief has been working longest, and the kindest task list for them is rest.