Nothing here has to happen today if today is too hard. Work down the list when you have a spare hour and a quiet room. Each item is deliberately small, none of them commits your family to a decision about the home, and every one of them can be paused halfway through.

• 1 Order several certified copies of the death certificate.
• 2 Find out whether a will or a trust exists, and where the original is kept.
• 3 Check that the house is locked and every spare key is accounted for.
• 4 Leave the heat, water and power switched on at the property.
• 5 Tell the home insurance company that nobody is living there now.
• 6 Have the mail held or redirected so the box does not overflow.
• 7 Leave bank accounts and credit cards alone until someone holds authority.
• 8 Pay nothing out of your own pocket before you have asked an attorney.
• 9 Write down who holds a key and who has been promised belongings.
• 10 Give yourself permission to leave the personal belongings untouched.