In the first week after a Massachusetts death, your priorities are: (1) get the death pronounced and the body cared for, (2) order multiple certified death certificates, (3) secure the home and pets, (4) locate the original will, and (5) avoid making any major financial decisions or distributions. Probate, accounts, and benefits can all wait. Most of the urgent steps are practical, not legal — and some early “helpful” decisions can actually create problems later.
This is meant to be a calm, plain-language checklist for someone who’s just been hit with a loss and is suddenly in charge.
Day One: Confirm and Notify
If the death happened at home and was unexpected, call 911. If it happened under hospice care or in a facility, the staff handles pronouncement. Either way:
- A licensed professional must pronounce the death. In Massachusetts, that’s typically a physician, nurse practitioner, registered nurse working under hospice, or a medical examiner.
- The funeral home or cremation provider can be contacted next. If your loved one had pre-arranged services, the paperwork should name the provider.
- Notify immediate family. There’s no legal urgency — but waiting too long causes its own pain.
You don’t need a lawyer on day one. You don’t need to think about probate. You don’t need to log into anyone’s accounts.
Day One to Two: Care for the Body and Secure the Home
The funeral home will collect the body and begin the process of preparing the death certificate. In Massachusetts, the certificate is filed with the city or town clerk where the death occurred. The funeral director typically handles this filing.
While that’s happening:
- Lock the house. Even with the best families, valuables and important documents have a way of disappearing in the days after a death. Take photos of the home as it is.
- Take care of pets. Make sure they have food, water, and attention. Decide who will keep them — temporarily or permanently — but don’t rehome them yet.
- Don’t move into the house. Even adult children with keys should stay in their own homes for now. Possession can complicate later property questions.
- Stop the mail and check the mailbox daily. Bills, account statements, and benefit notices will start arriving and you’ll want to see them.
Day Two to Three: Order Certified Death Certificates
This is the single most important administrative step of the first week. Almost every institution you’ll deal with — banks, insurance companies, retirement plans, the Social Security Administration, the IRS — will demand a certified copy of the death certificate before they’ll talk to you. Photocopies don’t work.
In Massachusetts, certified death certificates can be ordered through:
- The funeral home (easiest — they handle this for most families)
- The city or town clerk where the death occurred
- The Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics (for older records or when the local clerk doesn’t have them)
Order more than you think you need. Most families need 8 to 12 certified copies. Even small estates usually need 5 or 6. They cost roughly $15 to $20 each and ordering more later is annoying, slow, and sometimes more expensive.
The Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics has the official ordering process.
Day Three to Five: Find the Will and Other Key Documents
Hunt for these, in roughly this order of importance:
- The original signed will. Check the home safe, file cabinets, the office of any attorney the decedent worked with, and any safe deposit boxes. Don’t open a safe deposit box if you weren’t named on it — the bank will want a court order or a death certificate plus authority. If you can’t find the original, our guide on lost original wills walks through your options.
- Trust documents. If the decedent had a revocable living trust, the trust agreement and any amendments. The trust typically owns most of the assets and avoids probate entirely.
- Health care proxy and power of attorney. These end at death — but they’re useful for understanding the decedent’s prior decisions and may identify the person who handled finances.
- Beneficiary designations. Life insurance policies, retirement accounts (401(k), IRA), and bank/brokerage accounts with TOD or POD designations pass directly to the named beneficiary, outside the will.
- Pre-need funeral arrangements. Saves the family from making decisions in the dark.
- Recent tax returns. A copy of the last filed return is invaluable — it identifies accounts, income sources, and the tax preparer.
Don’t sign anything in the decedent’s name. Don’t transfer funds. Don’t pay debts. Don’t reimburse yourself. We’ll come back to why.
Day Three to Five: Notify the Critical Institutions
Some notifications are time-sensitive. Others aren’t. Keep this lean for the first week:
Do soon (within first week):
- The Social Security Administration. The funeral home often handles this, but verify. Social Security can claw back benefits if a check is deposited for the month of death or after.
- Pension providers (similar reason — overpayments must be returned).
- The decedent’s primary employer, if still working — for benefit and life insurance information.
- The decedent’s accountant or tax preparer.
Can wait:
- Banks (don’t close accounts yet)
- Investment firms
- Credit card companies
- Utilities (keep them on)
- The IRS (no rush in the first week)
- Long-term creditors
If your loved one was receiving MassHealth benefits or had been in a nursing facility, MassHealth will eventually file an estate recovery claim — but it doesn’t need to be addressed in the first week.
What Not to Do
This is the part that gets people in trouble. In the first week:
- Do not distribute the decedent’s belongings to family members yet. Even small items. Even the things “everyone agreed on.” Until the personal representative is appointed, no one has legal authority to give the decedent’s property away.
- Do not pay debts or bills out of the decedent’s accounts — and don’t pay them out of your own and “settle up later” without talking to a lawyer first.
- Do not transfer money out of the decedent’s accounts to “make things easier.” This can trigger personal liability.
- Do not let anyone move into the decedent’s home. Even an adult child with a key. Even temporarily. This complicates real estate, taxes, and family dynamics.
- Do not write checks from the decedent’s checkbook — even for legitimate expenses, even with a power of attorney. The POA died when the person did.
- Do not file the will with the court yet unless an attorney has told you to. Some filings are time-sensitive; many aren’t.
The personal representative’s role carries real fiduciary duties — and personal liability for missteps.
Day Five to Seven: Plan the Service and Talk to a Probate Attorney
Most families have the funeral or memorial service in the first or second week. Pre-need arrangements are followed if they exist. Without them, the family decides — and disagreements should be resolved by the named executor (or, in their absence, the closest next-of-kin).
This is also the right time to schedule a meeting with a probate attorney. By the end of the first week, you should know:
- Whether there’s a will and where it is
- Roughly what the estate consists of
- Who the named personal representative is (if there’s a will) or who would be entitled to serve under intestacy
- Whether MassHealth was involved
- Whether real estate is part of the estate
The attorney will help you decide whether informal or formal probate is appropriate, and how quickly to file.
A Brief Word on Grief and Pace
You don’t need to be efficient this week. You need to be safe and not make irreversible mistakes. Almost everything that feels urgent isn’t actually urgent — banks will wait, the IRS will wait, the will doesn’t have to be filed for months. The only true time-sensitive items are: pronouncement, body care, death certificates, and securing the home.
Give yourself permission to take a day. Eat. Sleep. Cry. The administrative work will still be here on Monday.
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly does probate need to be filed in Massachusetts? Generally within three years of the date of death under the MUPC, though most families file within 60 to 90 days. There’s almost never a reason to file in the first week.
Can I access my parent’s bank account if I’m a joint owner? If you were a joint owner with right of survivorship before the death, those funds pass to you outside probate and you can access them. If you were only a power-of-attorney holder, your authority ended at death. Don’t draw from the account.
Do I need a lawyer the first week? Not necessarily. But scheduling a consultation toward the end of the first week prevents costly mistakes in week two and beyond.
What if I’m not sure I want to be the executor? You can decline to serve. The will usually names a successor, or the court appoints someone under MUPC priority rules. There’s no obligation to take the job.
Where do I get certified death certificates in Massachusetts? Easiest: through the funeral home. Otherwise, the city or town clerk where the death occurred, or the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics.
Talk to a Massachusetts Probate Attorney
When you’re ready to start the legal side of things, we’d be glad to help. There’s no rush — the right time to call is whenever you have the headspace for a real conversation.
The Law Offices of Kimberly Butler Rainen serves families throughout Andover, North Andover, Reading, North Reading, Middleton, Georgetown, and the broader Merrimack Valley. Call or reach out through our contact page when you’re ready. Our probate services page explains what working with us looks like.