The first week after a death

In the first week after a death the point is an overview, not a division. Note the date of death, the place and who the funeral director is. Ask which particulars the municipality already has and which papers you still have to supply. Put in the file who the contact person is for the family and who may enter the home. An executor is not always known at once, so limit yourself to the safety of the home and to receiving the post. Decisions about money, belongings or a sale can wait until the documents are there.

The declaration of death usually runs through the funeral director at the municipality of the death. You do not have to go to the counter yourself if the funeral director has agreed that, but you check that it happens. Ask when the death certificate is available and how many certified copies (afschrift) you can get. Banks and insurers ask for that document later; a mourning card is usually not enough for them. Keep one copy that does not go out with the post, and note the certificate number and the date in the file. Without that document almost every next letter to a body stays lying.

Make a key list as soon as someone can open the home. Note who has a house key, a fob or a code, such as the partner, a child, the neighbours or the home-care service. Ask for extra copies back, or write down that someone is keeping them for the time being. Do not change the lock before it is clear who still has to go in, for example a partner who continues to live there. Put the alarm code in a closed note, not in a group message to the whole family. Agree who may enter the home and write that decision down, with the date and the names.

The deceased's post is the fastest source of bills, insurance and subscriptions. Agree who collects the letters and put them in a folder with the sender, the date and whether a payment deadline is on them. Do not respond at once to every offer or every collection notice that arrives in those first days. A letter from the bank or the Belastingdienst goes on the task list with the enclosure. You see digital post only once you know which mailboxes there are; put those names on a list. Do not put passwords in an open note, and do not use a login you have found to empty the mailbox.

In this week you do not arrange a division and you do not arrange a sale of the home. The Central Register of Wills (Centraal Testamentenregister) can show that there is a will, not what is in it. You request the text through the notary, not through a guess by the family. Do not use a bank card and do not use a login of the deceased to make payments. Taking belongings out of the house can later be treated as acceptance, so limit yourself to what the funeral and safety require. Note what you have taken, such as identification or a policy, with the date and the keeper.

This is an administrative checklist, not legal advice. The notary, the bank or the body concerned decides what this file needs and in which order. Ervazo keeps the tasks, the letters and the recorded values. The program does not send the letters, does not pay any debts and does not file a return. For each step, note the date, the person and the document you have received. What is still missing stays an open task. A ticked line means only that the administration has been updated. Keep the certificate, the key list and the post list in a fixed place in the file.