After a death there’s a long stretch of paperwork no will covers — the frozen account, the retirement plans, Social Security, the benefits nobody claims in time, probate. The Estate Kit is the step-by-step plan for that part: what to do, who to call and in what order, across the first 48 hours, 6 months and 9 months. So your family isn’t left guessing.
Between the day someone dies and the day the estate is finally closed, there’s a stretch of work no one prepares you for. Officially it’s called estate administration. Families call it something shorter. Here’s what it actually looks like —
Your children going drawer by drawer, through old statements and a locked phone, trying to work out which banks, which retirement plans and which policies even exist.
With a plan: it’s already listed — every account, and what to do with it.
There’s no one place to report a death. The funeral director tells Social Security, and Social Security tells Medicare. That’s it. Banks, insurers, plan custodians, private Medicare plans, the DMV, utilities, subscriptions — your family calls every one of them, one at a time.
With a plan: who to call, in what order — and what to have in hand.
An account in one name alone is frozen the moment the bank is told, until the court grants authority — or the estate is small enough for your state’s affidavit. The bills keep arriving in the meantime.
With a plan: your family knows what exists and the right steps to take, without losing weeks.
They’d figure it out eventually — over many stressful months, with frozen accounts, missed windows and forgotten policies along the way. And it won’t be shared out evenly: it lands on one person, who learns the job while doing it, while grieving. They don’t just need your information. They need a plan — what to do, who to call, and in what order.
Three clocks start the day someone dies, and almost nobody knows them in advance. Each window tells your family exactly what to do next, so no one has to improvise at the worst possible time.
The first moves, in order: call the funeral home — they’re the ones who normally report the death to Social Security — order about ten certified copies of the death certificate, find the original will, confirm who the executor is, secure the house and the mail, and leave the last benefit payment untouched.
There is no single place to report a death. Social Security tells Medicare — and nobody else. Every bank, the mortgage, the insurers, the 401(k) and IRA custodians, the private Medicare plans, the utilities and the subscriptions are one call at a time. This is also the window where money quietly disappears: survivor benefits start the month someone applies, back payments stop at six months, and the $255 lump-sum death payment has its own two-year window.
Nine months from the date of death — with no extension — is the federal window to decide whether to accept or refuse any part of what someone is left (IRC §2518). Most families never need that option; the ones who do can’t ask for more time. The same months hold probate through your state’s court, the valuation, the final tax return and any state filing.
The three windows are federal or practical, so they hold in all fifty states. What changes state to state — the court, the thresholds, the deadlines — is on your State Quick Sheet.
To be clear about the third window: nine months is the deadline for decisions that can’t be undone, not the day an estate is closed. Nationally, probate takes closer to 20 months on average.
Every page is written for how it works here, so nothing important is left out:
📧 Delivered instantly by email · 🖨 printed at home · kept in one folder.
Guided questions and clear sections — no blank-page overwhelm, no jargon, no legal training required. You’re answering prompts, not designing anything. Fill it in at your own pace, print it, and keep it together.
“I did it one rainy Sunday afternoon. It isn’t a notebook — it’s a plan my family can actually follow. Such a relief to have it done and know they won’t be left guessing.”
This kit exists because of the gap between two versions of the same job. Settle an estate with nothing to go on and it can run the better part of two years, with accounts still turning up at the end. Settle one with a plan, filled in, in a folder, and it’s the same paperwork in a completely different year. And no — we’re not attorneys, and your family won’t need one for this part.
My son now has a plan he can follow — the pension I’d half-forgotten, the policies, the order to do things in. One quiet afternoon and it was done.
When my wife passed I learned the hard way how much they ask you for. This lays out exactly what to do and when. Plain and sensible — it put my mind at rest.
I bought it for my parents and we filled it in together after Sunday lunch. We followed the steps — no drama, no awkwardness, just done.
What sold me is that it tells you what to do, step by step. My wife wouldn’t have known where to begin — now she has a plan she can simply follow.
I’m the one who always handled the paperwork here. Now if anything happens, the kids just open it and follow the steps. An enormous weight off my shoulders.
We printed both sets, sat at the kitchen table and worked through it section by section. Took one evening. The kids know exactly where the folder is now.
I hadn’t looked at those forms since the nineties. One of them still had a name on it that had no business being there. I’d never have thought to check.
She lives three states away and would be doing this alone. Now she has a plan she can follow from there, and a list of everything that exists.
Every page tells you what to put where. I never once had to guess or go look something up. Filed it in the cabinet and told the children where it is.
If you own your home, the Settled Family Pack is the one to start with. Every kit is one payment in USD, delivered by email to print at home, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Launch pricing for the American edition is currently running.
An estate attorney bills around $365 an hour, and the median trust package runs about $2,475. This kit doesn’t replace any of that — and it doesn’t try to. It’s the part they don’t do: telling your family what to do, in what order, and where everything is.
And yes, free checklists are everywhere. You’ve probably downloaded one. The honest question is whether it’s filled in — a blank binder helps nobody. This one is guided line by line, so it actually gets finished.
Just the basics.
Ideal if you own your home.
If you have life insurance, a bigger estate or several heirs.
One flat price, the one printed on this page. Nobody calls you. Nobody asks what your accounts are worth. Nobody turns up at your church, your community center or your living room with a free lunch and a folder. You buy the kit, it arrives by email, and it’s yours to keep.
When in doubt, if you own your home start with The Settled Family Pack — it covers what comes up most, without paying for the advanced estate options.
Download the kit, read the plan, print the sheets and start filling them in at your own pace. If you don’t feel it helps your family know what to do, just email us within 30 days. We’ll issue your refund in full within 48–72 hours — no forms, no questions, no phone call to sit through (your bank may take a few days to show it).
No — and that’s the whole point. Free checklists are everywhere; you’ve probably downloaded one already. The honest question is whether it’s filled in. This is a step-by-step plan — what to do, who to call and in what order across the first 48 hours, 6 months and 9 months — with guided fill-in pages that feed it. You answer prompts. You don’t design anything.
Instant email delivery · print at home · 30-day money-back guarantee