Somebody has died, and the job of organizing what they left has landed on you. Start by identifying who is authorized to act and which process applies. A court-supervised probate, a small-estate procedure and a trust administration are not interchangeable.
This is a U.S. records-organizing guide. It does not set a timetable or replace the governing documents, court instructions or legal and tax advice. For an official state example, California Courts describes formal probate (opens in new tab); use the instructions for the jurisdiction handling your estate.
The three mistakes, before anything else
Distributing before obligations are resolved. Identify debts, taxes, administration expenses and any required approvals before giving assets to beneficiaries. Ask the estate adviser how much must be retained for unresolved matters.
Mixing personal and estate money. Keep an identifiable record of estate receipts and payments, with estate funds separate from your own. Record any approved reimbursement rather than treating the estate account as a personal account.
Assuming the will decides everything. Ownership, beneficiary designations, trusts and applicable law also matter. Start with the inventory in stage 3.
Stage 1 — The first days
Arrange care for dependents and pets. Preserve records and locate the original will, codicils and trust documents. Confirm authority and any other person’s occupancy or access rights before entering property, changing locks or moving possessions. If the original will cannot be found, ask the court or attorney about the next step.
Ask each institution whether it needs a certified death certificate, accepts another format or returns the copy. Order the number needed for this estate rather than assuming every household needs ten to fifteen.
USAGov’s notification guide (opens in new tab), also referenced in the related parent-death article, identifies agencies and organizations to contact. Confirm that SSA has received the death report. Ask SSA and the bank how to handle payments: the benefit type and month the payment covers matter, not just the date it arrived. SSA explains reporting a death (opens in new tab); SSI’s month-of-death rule (opens in new tab) differs from Social Security retirement and disability benefits.
Stage 2 — Get appointed
Ask the court about depositing the will and whether formal probate is needed. If it is, follow the appointment process and obtain the required evidence of authority. Being named in the will is not the same as having court-issued letters. Other procedures or roles may confer different authority; do not treat a probate appointment as the only possible route for every asset.
Before engaging an attorney, clarify who is the client, who pays initially, and whether fees need approval or can be reimbursed from estate funds. Do not assume the person signing an engagement can never be personally responsible for fees.
Stage 3 — Take control
Once authorized, arrange the necessary bank account and estate tax identification. Ask the bank and tax adviser what applies. Keep estate receipts and payments separate from personal funds. Review automatic payments and ask insurers how to maintain coverage, especially if a home is vacant, rather than automatically canceling or retitling everything.
Inventory each asset with ownership, beneficiaries, approximate value, supporting document and the person responsible for its transfer. Mark uncertain classifications for review. A beneficiary designation or survivorship title can allow a transfer outside probate, but that does not automatically protect the asset from creditors.
For example, California Probate Code 19001 (opens in new tab) makes certain revocable-trust property available for probate debts and administration expenses when the probate estate is insufficient. This illustrates why creditor treatment must be checked under the governing law rather than inferred from a non-probate label.
Obtain valuations for the dates and purposes required by the court and tax rules. A date-of-death appraisal can be useful evidence, but does not by itself settle every beneficiary’s tax basis. Keep the valuation method and supporting records.
Stage 4 — Notify and gather
Track contacts with banks, insurers, benefit programs, employers and credit-reporting companies. Ask each what documents it needs and keep its response. Identify amounts payable to the estate separately from assets payable directly to someone else.
Follow the applicable creditor-notice procedure, including any publication and direct-service requirements. Record the triggering event and deadline for each notice. Do not assume one publication starts every claim period or that every late claim is barred.
Keep beneficiaries informed and retain copies of required notices. A regular factual update can help everyone follow the administration, but it does not replace legally required notice or accounting.
Stage 5 — Pay, file, and account
Review obligations and available assets before making distributions. If funds may be insufficient, get advice on priority and disputed claims before paying creditors. Do not exclude every non-probate asset from the analysis or treat a joint debt or post-death expense as automatically invalid.
The FTC’s guidance on debts after a death (opens in new tab), already cited in the related blog article, explains that debts are generally paid from the estate and describes exceptions to the rule that relatives are not personally liable. An executor’s own duties when administering assets are a separate issue.
Track tax deadlines alongside creditor deadlines. The IRS deceased-person guide (opens in new tab) covers the potential final personal return, estate income return and estate-tax obligations. Ask the tax adviser which returns apply, whether a portability election matters, and who signs. Form 56 (opens in new tab) concerns notice of a fiduciary relationship; it does not appoint an executor.
Keep a ledger with the date, amount, payee or source, purpose and supporting record for every transaction. Reconcile it to the estate bank statements and use the court’s required accounting format where applicable.
Stage 6 — Distribute and close
Confirm distribution rights under the will or other applicable rules, including intestacy if there is no valid will. Obtain any required approval before distributing. Record who received each asset and when.
Ask counsel which receipts or releases are appropriate and what they actually do. A receipt acknowledging delivery is not automatically a waiver of every future claim, and a generic release does not guarantee finality.
Follow the applicable final accounting, discharge and account-closing process. Keep enough funds and access for unresolved obligations, and retain the records for the periods your adviser identifies.
A realistic pace
There is no universal one-year completion time. Required notices, tax work, asset sales and disputes can change the schedule. Record the deadlines confirmed for this estate, who owns each task and what is still unresolved.
Start free: the First Two Weeks After a Death checklist covers stage 1 and stops there on purpose — an organizing starting point to check against the situation and required deadlines.
Then the whole job: the Executor’s Estate Settlement Records & Task Binder dates fifty-eight of its sixty tasks from the date of death (the other two recur), routes every asset by how it is titled — probate, non-probate, or one to put to the attorney — records creditor response dates and estate transactions. Confirm suggested routing and entered deadlines with the applicable procedure; the workbook does not determine legal authority or payment priority. Background reading: what an executor is, what probate is, and executor binder vs estate settlement app.
