The First Two Weeks After a Death: A Step-by-Step Checklist for Ontario Families

A gentle, practical roadmap for the immediate days — so you can focus on what matters and handle the rest one step at a time.

Who this is for: family members, executors, and friends in Ontario who are facing the first hours and days after a death and aren't sure what comes next. What you'll get: a calm, ordered checklist for the first 72 hours, the first week, and weeks one to two — plus a "who to notify" table.

⚖️ This is a general guide, not legal advice. It can't account for your specific situation. Use it to get oriented, then confirm the details with a licensed Ontario lawyer.

First, we're sorry for your loss. If you're reading this in the rawest part of grief, please know: almost nothing here has to happen today. Take care of yourself and your family first. The practical tasks below can be worked through slowly, and you do not have to do them alone — lean on family, friends, the funeral home, and professionals.

This guide breaks the early weeks into three phases. You don't need to do it all in order or all at once. Skip what doesn't apply, and come back as you have the energy.

🕊️ A note on pace: There is no prize for speed. The one thing that genuinely shouldn't wait is securing the person's home and belongings. Most everything else can take the time it needs.

Phase 1 — The first 24 to 72 hours

These are the immediate, mostly logistical steps. The goal is simply: confirm the death officially, find any wishes the person left, arrange care of the body, and protect what they leave behind.

Confirm the death and get the paperwork started

• Obtain the legal pronouncement of death. If the death was at a hospital, hospice, or long-term care home, staff handle this. If it happened at home and was expected, call the family doctor or the home-care nurse. If it was unexpected or sudden, call 911.
• Let the funeral home start the official paperwork. Once you choose a funeral home, the funeral director typically helps register the death and obtains the documents you'll need later, including the death certificate. This is one of the most helpful things a funeral home does — let them.

Find any final wishes — before the funeral is finalized

• Look for the will and any letter of wishes before making funeral decisions. The will may name an executor and sometimes states funeral or burial preferences. Check the usual places: a home safe or fireproof box, a desk or filing cabinet, a safe deposit box, or with the person's lawyer.
• Check for a prepaid funeral or cemetery plot. Many people arrange and pay for these in advance. A quick check can prevent paying twice — and honours what they wanted.

💡 Tip: If you find the will, note who's named as executor (Ontario's legal term is estate trustee). That person has the authority and responsibility to manage the estate — but funeral arrangements can usually be made by close family right away; you don't have to wait on probate to bury or cremate someone.

Arrange the funeral or memorial

• Choose a funeral home and arrange care of the body.
• Plan the service in line with any wishes you found and your family's traditions. There's no single "right" amount to spend or kind of service to hold.

Protect the home, pets, and valuables — this is the urgent part

• Secure the residence. Lock up, and if the home is now empty, make sure it looks lived-in (lights, mail collection) to deter break-ins.
• Arrange immediate care for any pets. They need food, water, and someone responsible today.
• Safeguard valuables and important documents — jewellery, cash, the will, financial papers, keys. If the home will sit empty, consider removing irreplaceable items to a safe place.
• Don't give anything away yet. It's natural for relatives to want a keepsake, but distributing belongings now can cause real problems later (see the warning below).

⚠️ Do not distribute or sell any assets yet. This is the single most important caution in this guide. Until the estate is properly administered — debts and taxes accounted for, and the executor confirmed — assets should stay put. Handing out belongings, emptying accounts, or selling a car early can leave the executor personally exposed and can spark family disputes. Secure things now; distribute later, the right way.

Phase 2 — The first week

With the immediate steps handled, the first week is about gathering documents and notifying the people who need to know.

Order death certificates

• Get multiple copies of the death certificate. You'll need them to close accounts, claim benefits, and deal with banks and insurers. Many people underestimate how many they'll need.
• Understand there are two kinds. The funeral home usually provides a funeral director's statement of death, which many organizations accept. A death certificate issued by ServiceOntario is the formal government document and is sometimes specifically required. (Processes and fees change — confirm the current details with ServiceOntario.)

💡 Tip: Order more copies than you think you'll need. Re-ordering later costs time you'd rather spend elsewhere. Some institutions return the copy after viewing; others keep it.

Notify family, friends, and the workplace

• Inform close family and friends. Lean on others to spread the word — you don't have to make every call yourself.
• Notify the person's employer (or, if retired, their pension provider). Ask about final pay, benefits, and any survivor pension or group life insurance. Workplace benefits are easy to overlook.

Locate the financial picture

• Gather financial documents: bank and investment statements, the will, insurance policies, property deeds, vehicle ownership, recent tax returns, and a list of debts (mortgage, loans, credit cards).
• Find login information carefully. You may need access to email and accounts to identify what exists — but don't start moving money. You're building a picture, not distributing the estate.
• Make a simple list of accounts and assets as you find them. This becomes the executor's working inventory.

Phase 3 — Weeks one to two

Now you begin the formal notifications. Take these at a steady pace; many can be done by phone or online over several days.

Notify financial institutions and government

• Notify the banks and credit unions. They'll explain how to handle accounts. Typically, accounts in the person's sole name are frozen until the estate is administered — this is normal and protective, not an obstacle. Jointly held accounts are handled differently.
• Notify Service Canada about federal benefits and the CPP. If the person received Canada Pension Plan or Old Age Security, payments must stop, and the estate or survivors may qualify for a CPP death benefit or survivor benefits. (Programs and amounts change — verify the current rules with Service Canada.)
• Notify insurers. Life insurance may pay a benefit to named beneficiaries (often outside the estate); home and auto insurers need to know the situation has changed, especially if a property or car now sits unused.

Cancel, redirect, and tidy up

• Secure the mail. Consider redirecting it so important notices and bills aren't missed (and so an empty home doesn't advertise itself). Canada Post offers a redirect or hold service.
• Cancel subscriptions and recurring payments — streaming, memberships, deliveries, utilities at an empty home (after confirming nothing essential, like heat, should stay on).
• Cancel or return government-issued cards and documents such as the health card, driver's licence, and passport. ServiceOntario and the relevant federal offices can tell you how.
• Keep records of everything you cancel, notify, and pay. A simple notebook or spreadsheet protects the executor and makes the next steps far easier.

⚠️ A reminder, because it bears repeating: Even as you cancel services and gather assets, you are not yet distributing the estate. Paying ongoing essentials and final expenses is appropriate; dividing up money or belongings among the family is not — that comes after the estate is properly settled, often with a lawyer's help and, where required, probate.

Who to notify — quick-reference table

What comes after the first two weeks

Once the immediate dust settles, the longer estate-administration work begins — and it's normal for this to take many months. It typically includes:

• Confirming the executor's authority, and applying for probate if the estate requires it (this is the court process that confirms the executor and the validity of the will).
• Valuing assets, paying debts and taxes, and filing the person's final tax return.
• Then, and only then, distributing what's left to the beneficiaries.

You don't have to know how to do all of this. An executor can — and often should — get help from a lawyer and an accountant, paid by the estate.

🕊️ Be kind to yourself. Grief and paperwork are a hard combination. Do the urgent things, ask for help with the rest, and give yourself permission to move at a human pace.

How Treadstone Law can help

Treadstone Law guides Ontario executors and families through estate administration — from locating and proving the will, to probate, to settling the estate the right way. If you've been named an executor and feel overwhelmed, you don't have to figure it out alone.

• Transparent flat fees — know the cost before you commit. See treadstonelaw.ca/pricing.
• Start online, on your schedule — begin at treadstonelaw.ca/start-file, with all-Ontario virtual service from our Mississauga office.
• Need to speak with someone? Call 1-844-900-1070.

Learn more about our estate services at treadstonelaw.ca/wills-estates.

This is not legal advice

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Ontario laws, tax rates, and government programs change, and how the law applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, speak with a licensed Ontario lawyer. Treadstone Law is licensed by the Law Society of Ontario — reach us at 1-844-900-1070 or start a file online.