The short answer
Six calls. The funeral home may already have done part of one or two of them, such as telling Social Security, and some will not apply to you. Everything else can wait at least a few weeks, except a letter with a date on it.
This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.
What to do
- Call the funeral home to confirm what it has filed and whom it has told. Have the funeral director's name and your notebook ready.
- Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 to book an appointment and ask about any payment that has to go back. Have his Social Security number, date of birth and date of death ready.
- Call whoever paid him: his employer, union, pension plan or the VA. Have any employee, pension or VA claim number you can find.
- Call your health insurance, if any of your coverage came through him. Have your insurance card and your mailing address ready.
- Call each life insurance company to start a claim. Have the policy number and a certified copy of the death certificate ready.
- Call each bank to ask what to bring and which accounts you can use. Have a recent statement ready.
What can wait
- Choosing any benefit, pension option or insurance payout.
- Changing or closing any account.
- Every other call. Those are in the next chapter, What about everyone else I'm supposed to call?
Who can help
Social Security, 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778).
His employer's benefits office, or his pension plan, for anything he was paid.
HealthCare.gov or your state's marketplace for a new health plan, and a SHIP counselor at shiphelp.org for Medicare questions. A helper, or a librarian at your public library, can do either search with you.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’ own pages in October 2026. They change, so check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 1: The First 30 Days
This page has the short answer and the closing lists from chapter 5. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers the first month.
Hear when the next book is out
Five or six short emails a year at most, and a note when a new book is out. Each one is about something that tends to come up in the first two years. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.