The Executor's First 30 Days

Days 1–3: Secure and stabilize

• Secure the home. Locks work, valuables and important papers are safe, insurance stays paid. Tell a trusted neighbor if it'll sit empty.
• Care for the living. Anyone who depended on the person — spouse, child, parent, pet — gets arranged first. Paperwork waits.
• Find the will. Desk, filing cabinet, safe deposit box, the attorney's office. Don't panic if it takes a few days.
• Order 8–12 certified death certificates through the funeral home. Banks, insurers, and the court will all ask.
• Start one list. A notebook, a notes app, one folder — everything about this job goes in one place from today.

Do NOT this week: give anything away · throw anything away · pay their debts from your pocket · promise anyone anything.

Week 1: Get professional backup

• Schedule a probate attorney consultation. You want someone who does probate and estate administration — not a generalist. Bring what you know; they'll guide the rest.
• Confirm Social Security was notified (the funeral home usually handles this).
• Set up mail forwarding to your address so nothing gets missed.
• Get the estate's EIN (free from the IRS website) — the estate needs its own tax ID.
• Keep paying the essentials: mortgage, homeowner's insurance, utilities on the house. Hold everything else.

Week 2: Follow the paper

• Hunt the documents: will, deeds, titles, bank/investment statements, insurance policies, tax returns, business papers.
• Check the safe deposit box — call the bank first; many states require a court order or specific procedure to open it.
• Search their email for "account," "policy," and "statement" — it's often the map to online accounts.
• Start the asset list. Walk the house, photograph room by room. Nothing leaves the house until it's listed.

Weeks 3–4: Set the process in motion

• File for probate with your attorney (or confirm the plan and timeline with them).
• Begin the formal inventory — the court will require it, and everything downstream depends on it.
• Start your time log. Date, what you did, how long. Your compensation depends on it.
• Write the family letter. What's happening, how long it takes, nothing decided yet, everything visible.
• Put every deadline in your phone — with reminders two weeks early, not the day of.

When you're ready for the full step-by-step

This checklist gets you started. The Executor's Kit walks the entire process — a plain-language workbook for the first days and weeks when your family needs a calm order of operations. The playbook asks the questions, gathers everything, and walks through the entire process step by step.