Steps to Take When Your Loved One Passes Away

Professionals who provide funeral services in Chicago, IL know the importance of discussing end-of-life arrangements with elderly loved ones. Whether your loved one is a family member or friend, don’t wait to ask about and establish the details of their last wishes. This can be difficult, but doing so will help your family transition smoothly when the time comes. Some of this information is personal, while some requires legal or medical acknowledgment. Below we’ll discuss what your loved one needs you to know.

Ideally, the person’s will, Social Security information, birth certificate, marriage and divorce certificates, financial documents, life insurance and keys or combinations to safes will all be in one area. This way, you can find it easily later. You also need to know the person’s wishes about funeral arrangements. Find out whether they want a casket burial or cremation. Donating organs and donating the body to science are also common practices that your loved one may support.

If your loved one has not already sought out professional advice regarding living wills and final arrangements, now is the time. He or she should also look into having do-not-resuscitate orders drawn up, if they so desire. Family members and doctors need copies of these documents.

You may think you know your loved one’s wishes, but will you know what to do when they pass? Here’s a checklist to avoid making this difficult time even more of a challenge.

Right away

Seek out a legal pronouncement of death immediately. If the individual passes away in a hospital, a doctor will be present to do this. If not, you’ll need to contact someone with legal authority to do it. Aside from doctors, you can rely on hospice staff. In the case of hospice care, the nurse can declare the patient has died and help arrange transportation of the body. However, many times, a person dies at home and is not under hospice care. In this case, call 911. If there’s not a do-not-resuscitate document in your hand, paramedics will generally begin emergency procedures and head to an emergency room where a doctor makes the declaration.

Further steps after a death include coordinating transportation to a mortuary, notifying the person’s doctor (unless they declared the death), notifying family and friends, taking care of left-behind dependents and pets and calling the person’s employer (if applicable).

Within a few days

Within a few days after death you will need to arrange the person’s choice of funeral services in Chicago, IL, contact the mortuary and prepare an obituary. This is also the time to deal with the person’s mail, phone calls and issues around their home.

No more than 10 days after

You’re going through a difficult time right now, but don’t wait long to obtain copies of the death certificate to send to the appropriate parties. Contact your loved one’s estate attorney, accountant, bank, life insurance agent, the Social Security office, utilities companies and any other groups, organizations or people that need to be notified.

Call Marik-Baken Funeral Services Ltd. for a better understanding of the ins and outs of funeral or cremation service in Chicago, IL. We’re here to help.

Categorised in: Crematory Services, Funeral Service

This post was written by Writer