The Executor’s Survival Kit
What to Do When Someone Dies: The Complete Executor’s Checklist & Survival Kit
A step-by-step roadmap for the first 72 hours, 30 days, and 90 days — with every script, letter template, and tracker you need to settle an estate without losing your mind.
- ✓ Instant access — print-ready manual + editable templates
- ✓ Written by estate administrators, not lawyers selling consultations
- ✓ Copy-paste scripts for every call, letter, and platform form
50–75
Administrative tasks follow a typical death
40+
Hours of paperwork and calls fall on the family
90%
Of families say the admin burden was worse than expected
You weren’t trained for this. Now you have a manual.
Someone you love has died — and somehow, between the grief and the funeral, you’ve become a project manager for banks, courts, and government agencies. The Executor’s Survival Kit gives you the exact sequence, the exact words, and the exact documents, so you never have to wonder “what am I supposed to do next?”
What’s inside
Section 1
The Master Executor's Roadmap
- The 72-hour triage — pronouncement, death certificates (and how many to order), securing the home, the first phone call scripts
- The 30-day sprint — stop the financial bleed, Letters Testamentary in plain English, estate bank account & EIN, SSA / Medicare / DMV / VA notifications
- The 90-day deep dive — asset log, creditor priority, tax basics, closing the estate
- The “Do NOT” list — the five mistakes that cost executors real money
- The Family Filter — boundary scripts for heirloom requests, weekly updates, and conflict de-escalation
Section 2
The Communication Swipe File
- The bereavement-department insider guide — the magic words that skip the general queue
- Phone scripts: the opening, the verification, the debt-collector shield, the escalation
- Letter templates: bank notification, subscription cancellation, government follow-up, credit bureau deceased alerts
- The Call Log spreadsheet — the #1 tool for staying sane
Section 3
The Digital Legacy & Security Vault
- The digital asset inventory — find the 100+ accounts you don't know exist
- Lockout protocols for Apple, Google, Facebook/Instagram, LinkedIn, and X
- The 2FA survival guide — why you must NOT cancel the phone plan yet
- Crypto & hardware wallets, the AI & digital likeness instruction letter, the Digital Will statement
Formats: print-ready PDF manual + editable Google Docs & Sheets templates you can duplicate and use immediately.
Common questions
What is the first thing to do after a death?
Get a legal pronouncement of death, then order 10–20 certified copies of the death certificate through the funeral home. Almost everything else — banks, the will, the bills — can safely wait several days. The kit's 72-Hour Triage covers the exact sequence.
How many death certificates do I need?
Order 10–20 certified copies: one per financial account, insurance policy, and property title, plus spares. Reordering later takes weeks — under-ordering is the most common first mistake executors make.
What is an executor of estate checklist?
A phased task list covering everything an executor must do: securing the home, obtaining Letters Testamentary, opening an estate bank account, notifying Social Security and other agencies, logging assets and debts, filing final taxes, and distributing the estate. The Survival Kit organizes all 75+ tasks by timeline.
How do I close accounts after a death?
Ask each company for its bereavement or estate department, confirm exactly which documents it requires (certified death certificate vs. copy, Letters Testamentary), send a formal notification letter, and track every call with a reference number. The kit includes the exact scripts and letter templates.
How do I cancel a deceased person's subscriptions?
Pull three months of bank statements to find every recurring charge, then send each company a short cancellation-due-to-death letter requesting a refund of charges billed after the date of death. A copy-paste template is included in Section 2 of the kit.
Am I personally responsible for the deceased's debts?
Generally no — debts are paid from the estate, in a legal order of priority, unless you co-signed. Never pay estate debts from your own pocket, and use the kit's debt-collector script if collectors pressure the family.
What happens to someone's iPhone, email, and photos when they die?
Each platform has a formal process: Apple's Digital Legacy, Google's deceased-user request, and memorialization forms for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X. Without preparation, some data requires a court order — Section 3 of the kit walks through every platform step by step.
Doing this alone is optional
The kit gives you everything to do it yourself. But if you’re looking at 30–50 notifications and weeks of follow-up calls, Koda Vault’s Estate Administration Vault does it for you — every call, letter, claim, and case number, handled and documented.