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5 Non-Obvious Things You Must Do Quickly When a Loved One Dies
Trouble can come in fast
The first day of dealing with a loved one dying may be the most challenging time of your life.
The grief and sadness hit hard.
Despite your feelings, there are obvious things that need to be done right away. You may need to call 911. Then, the mortuary needs to be called. The family needs to be notified.
Even though they’re difficult, you do them because they are important and necessary.
However, it’s also essential for someone to remain clear-headed enough to take care of a few things you might not think of. Some of these I learned the hard way after helping a few friends and family members through hospice.
For example, my mother-in-law Elaine’s identity was hacked three days after she passed because of her home nurse.
The first thing to do is find their book of passwords, if they have one, and hide or remove it from the house.
This one thing alone can prevent a lot of havoc. Elaine’s password book disappeared the day she died. The hospice nurse took it and then passed it on to others, who proceeded to get into her Apple ID account to order iPads.
The thieves also tried to open several credit cards since they now had access to her information.
You may be wondering how they bypassed the two-factor authentication. Well, the password book included the login for Elaine’s cell phone carrier, which enabled them to transfer her phone number to one of their phones.
My wife and I figured out something was happening when Elaine’s phone showed no service.
This leads me to another thing to do.
Take control of their phone, and don’t let anyone see or take it.
Many people keep the line active for a couple of weeks, and that’s fine, but the phone should only be in the hands of one trustworthy person.
Similarly, if they have a desk computer, unplug everything immediately. If it’s a laptop, treat it the same as their phone. Unplug it and put it in a safe place until you’re ready…
