The first weeks after a death come with practical tasks. These tools cover how many death certificates to order, whether the estate has to go through probate in your state, what the burial and cremation rules are, how an estate account is opened, and what to do in what order.
Calculate how many certified death certificates you need based on the assets and accounts you need to close. See state-specific ordering information.
Answer a few questions to find out if an estate needs full probate, qualifies for simplified probate, or can avoid probate entirely with a small estate affidavit.
See which states charge inheritance tax, what federal tax applies, and how long it takes to receive money, property, or retirement assets from an estate or trust.
Look up your state's rules for who controls disposition of remains, cremation waiting periods, home burial, embalming, green burial, and whether human composting or water cremation are allowed.
Get a score-based recommendation on whether self-filing probate is right for your situation. See estimated savings vs. hiring an attorney and get a step-by-step checklist.
See how a personal representative is appointed in your state: the appointing court, the petition that opens the estate, what supporting documents to file, and bond rules.
See when creditors must file claims, what notice you must publish, whether direct notice is required, and the statutory priority for paying debts. Enter dates to calculate specific deadlines.
Enter the estate's assets and the claims in each class of the state's payment order to see which classes are paid in full, which are paid in part, and which go unpaid, with each class cited to the statute and the executor's personal liability under state law.
Compare estate-account opening procedures bank by bank — where the account can be opened, the documents required, whether the estate's EIN comes first, and the steps each bank follows.
See which federal distribution rules apply to an inherited IRA, Roth IRA, or 401(k) — the beneficiary class, the required beginning date from the owner's birth year, the calendar year by which the account must be emptied, whether a withdrawal is required each year, the first-year dates, and the tax for a missed withdrawal.
Estimate the fair market value of furniture, electronics, clothing, appliances, and more. See how reporting accurate values instead of purchase prices can reduce probate fees in your state.
Get a personalized plan for settling an estate after someone passes away. Covers trust administration, probate, and intestate estates.
The free checklist from the first days through closing the estate: death certificates, securing the home, notifications, documents, probate or trust administration, creditors, taxes, and distribution. State rules and official forms are noted on each step. Downloadable as a PDF.
The What to Do When Someone Dies Checklist lays out the first steps in order for your state, split by whether the person left a will, a trust, or no documents. The Death Certificate Calculator estimates how many certified copies the accounts, policies, and agencies involved will ask for.
The Probate Decision Tool checks the estate against your state's small estate threshold and the ways assets pass outside probate, such as joint ownership, beneficiary designations, and trusts, and shows whether a court process is required.
The Burial and Cremation Law Guide covers who has the legal right to decide, the waiting periods and authorizations for cremation, and the rules for home burial and scattering in each state.
The Estate Account Opening Guide covers what the estate needs before a bank opens the account, including the employer identification number and the court appointment document, and lists what each bank publishes about its own process.
The Inherited IRA Withdrawal Rules tool shows the federal withdrawal timeline by account type and beneficiary relationship. The Inheritance Tax Guide covers which taxes apply to what you receive and when distributions typically arrive.