After someone dies, the belongings they leave behind need to be secured immediately, inventoried, used to pay off any debts, and then either handed to the people named in the will, sold, donated, or titled over to heirs. Knowing what to do with stuff after someone dies comes down to following that sequence in order, because skipping steps, especially the debt step, can leave the person running the estate personally on the hook.
Secure the Home and Belongings First
The first 48 hours are when property is most vulnerable. Relatives, neighbors, and sometimes strangers remove items from a home before anyone has legal authority to manage the estate. Change the locks, or at a minimum confirm every door and window is secured. This preserves the legal status quo until someone has a court-issued appointment to act.
Inside, clear perishables from the kitchen before they become a health hazard. Arrange temporary care for any pets. Check the thermostat, water heater, and exposed plumbing, because an unoccupied home in winter can take thousands of dollars in pipe damage within days. Move small high-value items (loose cash, jewelry, firearms) into a locked safe or secure spot inside the home, and write down where you put them.
Get Legal Authority Before You Move Anything
No matter how close you were to the person who died, you cannot sell their car, empty their bank account, or transfer their house without documentation. Two things open every door that follows.
Certified Death Certificates
The death certificate is your proof of passing for banks, insurers, the DMV, the Social Security Administration, and the probate court itself. Order more certified copies than you think you need; a dozen is a reasonable starting point. Banks and government agencies almost always want an original certified copy rather than a photocopy. Costs typically run from about $10 to $30 per copy depending on the jurisdiction, and most local registrars or health departments can issue them within a few business days.
Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
If there’s a will, the person named as executor files it with the local probate court and petitions for letters testamentary, the court order officially authorizing them to manage the estate. If there’s no will, the court appoints someone (usually a surviving spouse or next of kin) and issues letters of administration. The effect is the same: the document proves to banks, title companies, and anyone else that you have legal authority to act for the estate.
Filing fees for the petition range from roughly $150 to several hundred dollars depending on jurisdiction and estate value. The court may also require a bond, a type of insurance protecting beneficiaries from mismanagement, though many wills waive it. Until you have letters in hand, institutions will refuse to cooperate, so this is your first courthouse visit.
Figure Out What Actually Belongs to the Estate
A significant portion of what the deceased owned may never pass through probate and is not yours to distribute as executor. These assets transfer automatically to a named beneficiary or surviving co-owner.1Legal Information Institute. Nonprobate Transfer
- Joint accounts and real estate held as joint tenancy with right of survivorship pass directly to the surviving owner.
- Life insurance policies, 401(k)s, IRAs, and annuities go to whoever is named as beneficiary, regardless of what the will says.
- Bank and brokerage accounts with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation transfer to the named person on presentation of a death certificate.
- Property held in a revocable living trust is distributed by the trustee according to the trust document, outside probate.
A will does not override a beneficiary designation. If the will leaves “everything to my children” but the IRA names an ex-spouse, the ex-spouse gets the IRA. After death, the designations on file control.
When a Small Estate Qualifies for a Shortcut
Every state offers a simplified procedure for estates below a certain value, and many families qualify without realizing it. The usual tool is a small estate affidavit: a sworn statement filed with the institution holding the asset (a bank, for example) rather than with a court. The affidavit typically states the total value of probate assets, confirms no probate case has been opened, and identifies the person entitled to receive the property.
Thresholds range dramatically, from around $10,000 at the low end to over $200,000 in states with higher limits. Most states impose a waiting period, commonly 30 to 45 days after the death, before the affidavit can be used. Some states exclude real estate from the small estate process entirely, limiting it to personal property and financial accounts. If the probate assets fall below your state’s threshold, this route saves months of court involvement and thousands in legal fees.
Inventory and Value Everything
Probate courts require a verified inventory listing every asset the deceased owned at death, with each item’s fair market value as of the date of death. The inventory drives everything that follows: which debts get paid, how much each beneficiary receives, and what taxes the estate owes.
For everyday household items, furniture, and vehicles, reasonable estimates based on comparable sales are usually enough. For specialized property such as real estate, antiques, art collections, business interests, or mineral rights, a professional appraiser provides a written report establishing the date-of-death value. Appraisers charge by the hour or a flat fee depending on complexity, often anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.
Why Accurate Valuations Pay Off: The Stepped-Up Basis
When someone inherits property, the tax basis of that property resets to its fair market value on the date the owner died, not what the deceased originally paid for it.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent
If your parent bought a house in 1985 for $80,000 and it was worth $400,000 when they died, your basis is $400,000. Sell it for $410,000 and you owe capital gains tax on $10,000, not on $330,000. This is exactly why date-of-death appraisals are worth paying for. Without a documented valuation, you’re reconstructing fair market value years later, usually to your disadvantage.
The stepped-up basis applies to property acquired by bequest, inheritance, or through the decedent’s estate. It also applies to the decedent’s share of community property in community property states. It does not apply to assets the deceased gave away during their lifetime; gifts receive the donor’s original basis.
Pay Debts Before Giving Anything Away
This is where first-time executors make their costliest mistake: distributing items to heirs before the estate’s debts are resolved. Hand out inheritances and then discover unpaid creditors, and you can be personally liable for the shortfall. Debts first, distributions second.
Notify Creditors
Most states require the executor to publish a notice to creditors in a local newspaper, typically once a week for two to three consecutive weeks. This starts a clock. Creditors who don’t file a claim within the statutory window (commonly three to four months, varying by state) lose their right to collect. For creditors you actually know about, such as the mortgage company, credit card issuers, and medical providers with outstanding bills, most states require direct written notice in addition to the published one.
Skip or botch this step and the window for claims extends, leaving the estate and the executor personally exposed for much longer. In some states, failing to notify a known creditor can extend the claim period to two years or more from the date of death.
Priority of Payment
When the estate can’t pay every creditor in full, debts are paid in a priority order set by state law. The exact ranking varies, but the general pattern looks like this:
- Administration expenses: court costs, attorney fees, executor compensation, and costs of preserving estate assets.
- Reasonable funeral and burial costs.
- Federal tax debts, which carry a statutory priority over most other creditors.
- State taxes and other government claims.
- Secured debts such as mortgages and car loans backed by collateral.
- Unsecured debts: credit cards, medical bills, personal loans.
If the estate is insolvent, the executor pays in priority order until the money runs out. Beneficiaries receive nothing until every creditor above them is satisfied. Heirs are almost never personally responsible for the deceased’s debts unless they co-signed, held a joint account, or are a surviving spouse in a community property state.
Hand Out Specific Items
Once debts are paid and the creditor claim period has closed, distribution can begin. Start with specific bequests: items the will names for particular people.
Many wills reference a separate written list that assigns specific personal items to specific people, such as a grandmother’s ring to one grandchild or a set of tools to another. This document, often called a personal property memorandum, is legally recognized in most states as long as the will explicitly incorporates it, the items are described clearly enough to identify, and the document is signed and dated. It doesn’t need witnesses or notarization. The practical advantage is that the deceased could update the list anytime without revising the entire will.
Document every transfer with a receipt or signed acknowledgment from the recipient. The probate court requires a final accounting showing where every asset went, and gaps in documentation are what trigger objections from unhappy heirs.
Sell or Donate What’s Left
For items nobody specifically inherits, an estate sale is the standard method of liquidation. Professional estate sale companies handle pricing, advertising, and running the sale in exchange for a commission, commonly 25% to 40% of total proceeds. Items that don’t sell can be donated to charitable organizations, and the estate can claim a tax deduction for the fair market value of the donation.
Transfer Vehicles and Real Estate
Transferring a vehicle title requires bringing the letters testamentary or letters of administration, the original title, and a death certificate to the state motor vehicle agency. Procedures vary. Some states let a surviving spouse transfer title with just a death certificate and marriage certificate; others require the full probate appointment regardless.
Real estate transfers go through the county recorder’s office. The executor typically records either the court order authorizing the transfer or a new deed naming the beneficiary. Recording fees vary by county. If the property is being sold rather than transferred to an heir, the executor handles the sale much like any other real estate transaction, but the estate rather than an individual appears as the seller.
Close Out Digital Accounts and Lock the Credit File
Almost everyone who dies now leaves behind a digital footprint: email, social media, cloud storage, streaming subscriptions, cryptocurrency wallets, and online banking. Most states have adopted a version of the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which extends an executor’s authority to digital assets much like physical ones. The catch: the law only grants access to the content of private communications such as emails and direct messages if the deceased explicitly authorized it, either through an online tool the platform provides or in their estate planning documents.
Social Media and Email
Facebook and Instagram allow friends and family to request memorialization of a deceased person’s profile, which locks the account while keeping it visible as a memorial. Family members with documentation can also request permanent deletion. Google offers an Inactive Account Manager that lets users designate up to 10 trusted contacts to receive account data after a specified period of inactivity; if the deceased set this up ahead of time, access becomes much simpler.3Google. About Inactive Account Manager If they didn’t, Google may work with immediate family members and representatives to close the account or, in limited circumstances, provide content from it.
Email providers are generally more restrictive than social media platforms. Most require a court order or specific legal documentation before granting any access to message content. Check each provider’s help center for its deceased-user process, and have your letters testamentary ready.
Lock Down the Credit File
Identity thieves target deceased people because their credit files can go unmonitored for months. Contact each of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to report the death and request a deceased indicator on the credit file. You’ll need the person’s full name, Social Security number, date of birth, date of death, and a copy of the death certificate. Once flagged, the file is frozen and new credit applications under that identity will be denied.
While you’re at it, cancel credit cards, close store accounts, and remove the deceased as an authorized user on any accounts shared with a surviving spouse. Notify subscription services (streaming, software, gym memberships, insurance policies) to stop recurring charges from draining the estate’s bank accounts.