The Executor's First Week: Exactly What to Do (and What Can Wait)

If you're reading this, someone has died and the job of sorting things out has landed on you. First: take a breath. Almost nothing on the legal side has to happen today, or even this week. The pressure you feel is real, but most of it is not a deadline — it's grief wearing a to-do list.

Here is what actually matters in the first few days, in order, and just as importantly, what you can safely leave alone for now.

The five things that are genuinely urgent

Most of estate administration can wait weeks or months. These five are the exceptions:

1. Arrange care for anyone who depended on the person — children, elderly parents, and pets. This comes before any paperwork.
2. Secure the home and valuables — lock up, bring in mail, and make sure an empty house isn't sitting unlocked or visibly vacant.
3. Make sure the death is formally pronounced, and begin funeral or cremation arrangements — in almost every case a professional does the pronouncement for you (exactly who is explained in the next section); you don't need the full funeral plan yet.
4. Locate the will (or confirm there isn't one) — you'll need it before you can act as executor.
5. Order death certificates — nearly every step downstream depends on them.

Everything else — banks, lawyers, taxes, selling property — can wait until you've caught your breath.

Who pronounces the death — and what you actually do

"Legal pronouncement" sounds like a task you have to arrange. In almost every case, you don't — a qualified professional does it, and your only job is knowing who to call:

• In a hospital, hospice, or care home: the attending doctor or nurse pronounces the death as a matter of course. Staff handle it. You don't need to do anything.
• At home, when the death was expected (for example under palliative or hospice care): call the hospice or home-care number you were given — a nurse will come or guide you over the phone. If you weren't given one, call the family doctor's office.
• At home, and the death was sudden or unexpected: call 911. Paramedics or police attend, and a coroner or medical examiner may be involved. Don't move the person or disturb anything until they tell you it's okay.

Once the death is pronounced, the doctor or coroner issues a medical certificate of death. The funeral home uses that document to register the death with the province or state and to produce the death certificates you'll order next — which is why those two steps connect. You don't chase the paperwork; it flows from the pronouncement.

Secure the home, belongings, and anyone who depended on them

An empty home is the most time-sensitive practical risk. Make sure doors and windows are locked, perishable food is dealt with, and any pets are being fed and cared for. If the home will sit empty, tell a trusted neighbour, redirect the mail, and check that home insurance stays in force — many policies lapse or change once a home is unoccupied for 30 days, so a quick call to the insurer is worth it.

Resist the urge to start giving away or throwing out belongings, even small ones. Until the estate is settled, those items legally belong to the estate, not to any one family member. Well-meaning early cleanouts are one of the most common sources of family conflict later.

Order the death certificate — and get more copies than you think

You will need death certificates to close accounts, claim insurance, transfer titles, and file with the court. Institutions usually want an original or a certified copy, not a photocopy.

Order at least 6 to 10 copies. It feels like a lot. It isn't. Every bank, insurer, pension, and government office tends to want its own, and ordering more later is slower and more expensive than ordering them up front. In Canada these come from the provincial vital statistics office (often arranged through the funeral home); in the US, from the state or county vital records office.

Find the will and the paperwork that matters

Look for the most recent signed will. Check the obvious places — a home safe, a desk, a filing cabinet — and the less obvious ones: a safety deposit box, the person's lawyer, or a provincial/state will registry. If a lawyer drafted it, they often keep the original.

While you're looking, start a single folder (paper or digital) for the documents you'll need again and again: the will, death certificates, recent bank and investment statements, property deeds, vehicle titles, insurance policies, and the last tax return. You don't need to act on any of it yet — just gather it in one place. Your future self will thank you.

The team you'll likely need (the seven roles)

You don't have to hire anyone this week. But it helps to know the cast of people executors typically lean on, so the words aren't unfamiliar when you get there:

• Probate lawyer — guides the court process and the legal transfer of the estate.
• Estate tax accountant — handles the deceased's final return and the estate's tax filings.
• Certified appraiser — sets date-of-death values for real estate, businesses, and valuables.
• Executor bond broker — arranges a surety bond if the court requires one.
• Estate sale company — liquidates household contents when needed.
• Professional executor or estate-settlement service — support if you're overwhelmed or the estate is complex.
• Probate-experienced realtor — sells estate property, which has its own rules.

You may need two of these or all seven. We'll help you find the right ones, in the right order, when the time comes.

What can wait — really

In the first week, you do not need to: notify every bank, file any taxes, distribute anything to beneficiaries, sell the house, or have the whole plan figured out. Distributing assets too early — before debts and taxes are settled — can actually make you personally liable. Slow is safe here.

The estate will still be there next week. Right now, secure what's fragile, gather what's important, and let the rest wait.

Foxglove is a guide, not a law firm. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice, and rules differ by province and state. We'll always point you to a qualified professional for decisions that need one.