What to do when someone dies

It depends on where the death happened and whether it was expected. The table is the short version. The sections below go through each case.

Call the hospice number, not 911. Medicare says a hospice nurse and doctor are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The hospice usually has a plan in place for what happens after the death.

Medicare also tells hospice patients to call the hospice team before using an ambulance or emergency room. Otherwise they might have to pay the full cost.

1. Take a moment. The National Cancer Institute says there is no need to hurry with arrangements after the person has died. Many families sit with the person, talk or pray first.
2. Call the hospice. A hospice nurse can come to confirm the death and fill in the forms needed for the death certificate.
3. If you can, lay the person flat on their back with one pillow under the head. NIA notes that the joints begin to stiffen in the first few hours after death.
4. Call the people who may want to see the person before the body is moved.
5. When you're ready, call the funeral home. Hospice staff can often help with this call.

Call 911. If you aren't sure the person has died, tell the dispatcher and follow their instructions.

Under state law, deaths that are sudden, accidental or unexplained usually go to the medical examiner or coroner. In New York City, for example, the medical examiner investigates the sudden death of a person in apparent good health. It also investigates accidents, suicides, overdoses and deaths in suspicious or unusual circumstances.

The medical examiner may take the person for an examination. While that happens, the cause of death can be listed as pending.

You still choose the funeral home. The medical examiner's office doesn't pick one for you. Tell the funeral director that the medical examiner or coroner is handling the death, so the two offices can coordinate.

If a death at home is expected but the person isn't on hospice, plan ahead. NIA suggests asking the person's doctor, the local medical examiner or coroner, the health department or a funeral home how a death at home will be handled.

1. Staff will pronounce the death. In a hospital or nursing facility, a doctor usually does this and fills in the cause, time and place of death.
2. Tell staff about any religious or cultural customs that matter to you, as early as you can. You can ask a member of your faith community or a spiritual counselor to come.
3. The doctor may ask about organ donation, or whether you want an autopsy. If your religion or culture objects to autopsy, tell the doctor.
4. Give staff the name of the funeral home you want. The hospital or nursing home may help with the arrangements.

• Don't call 911 for an expected death on hospice. Call the hospice.
• Don't feel you must rush. Unless the medical examiner is involved, you can take time before the funeral home comes.
• Don't use the person's debit card, online banking or power of attorney. A power of attorney ends at death. See what happens to a bank account.
• Don't pay their debts from your own money. Debts are paid by the estate. See what happens to credit card debt.
• Don't agree to a funeral package before you have the funeral home's General Price List. It is yours to keep, and you can buy only what you want.
• Don't cancel the person's phone right away. Text messages with login codes may be the only way into their other accounts.

There is no single national deadline. Timing depends on your family's wishes, religious customs, state rules, and whether a medical examiner is involved.

Embalming usually isn't required. The FTC says no state law requires routine embalming, and that refrigeration or direct cremation may be other options.

A direct cremation or immediate burial happens without a viewing or a ceremony with the body present. You can hold a memorial service later, without the body, whenever your family chooses.

1. Find out whether the estate needs probate. Assets with a joint owner or a named beneficiary usually pass outside it. ProbateUS explains the rules and small estate options in each state.
2. Make a list of what the person owned and owed. Our what happens to pages cover each type of account.
3. Claim retirement accounts as a beneficiary. See what happens to a 401(k) or IRA.
4. Pay debts only from estate money, in the order your state requires.
5. File the person's final income tax return. The IRS says to report everything they earned up to the date of death.
6. Close or memorialize online accounts. See the pages on Facebook and Instagram, Google and Apple.
7. Look after yourself. Hospice programs offer grief support to families, and NIA says you can ask for it even if hospice wasn't used. Our guide on how long grief lasts covers what is normal and when to get help.