Just named executor? The first two weeks, in plain steps
Someone you love died, and a document names you executor. Here is the strange comfort nobody offers at the funeral: almost nothing about an estate is an emergency, and anyone who tells you otherwise wants something from you.
This week
- Start the estate notebook. Every call, name, and fact, dated. It is also your proof that you acted carefully.
- Order ten to twelve certified death certificates through the funeral home. Banks, insurers, the DMV, and the county each want their own, and reordering later costs weeks.
- Find the original will, but do not perform it. Read it for two facts only: are you the executor, and is there a trust. The formal reading happens with the attorney, not at the kitchen table.
- Secure the property. Locks, collected keys, valuables out of sight, and the utilities and homeowner's insurance kept ON. Tell the insurer if the house will sit empty; vacant homes need different coverage.
- Let the funeral home report to Social Security, and confirm they did. Survivor benefits and the rules live at ssa.gov.
The do-not list, which is most of the job
Do not pay the deceased's bills from your own money. Do not pay or "settle" anything a caller claims is urgent. Do not distribute or promise a single object, including to yourself. Do not move money between accounts. In general, family members are not personally responsible for the deceased's debts; the estate pays, in a legal order, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says so plainly at consumerfinance.gov.
The sentence that buys time, for every pushy caller: "The estate is in probate and everything goes through the process. Send it in writing." Say it kindly, say it identically, and hang up lighter.
Day five to fourteen
- Book the estate attorney consult. Bring the will, a rough asset picture, and the notebook. Ask three things: does this estate need full probate here, or a simpler path? How do you bill? What can I do myself with your review?
- Start the unopened-mail protocol: one box, everything in, nothing answered until the estate account exists. The mail is the estate's map; it will name accounts and debts you did not know existed.
- Send one family update that names the pace out loud: estates take months by design, and you will update everyone monthly.
That is the whole fortnight. Order the paper, secure the house, refuse to be hurried. The rest is a system, and systems can be handed to you.
The system for the person named to settle the estate.
A 25-page guide from the first two weeks through final distribution, 15 working forms including the notification matrix and claim log, the one-page Estate Sheet, and 18 AI prompts that draft the letters. Instant download, $44.
See what's insideGoodstead kits and articles are organizational tools, not medical, legal, or financial advice. For decisions in those areas, rely on your parent's clinicians, a licensed elder-law attorney, or a qualified adviser. Sources linked above: hhs.gov on HIPAA permission, medicare.gov on observation status and appeal rights, eldercare.acl.gov for the Eldercare Locator.