When it comes to losing a loved one, families are often unaware of the steps that come after the funeral arrangements have been made. These steps include closing accounts, selling real estate, filling for life insurance benefits, etc. For most of these important tasks a certified death certificate will be required.

For example, if a family is needing to remove the deceased’s name from a bank account or close the account all together, a death certificate will be required by each banking institution to do so.

Life insurance companies will also require a death certificate before the beneficiary will be able to collect the policy balance. For eligible family members to collect 401K benefits, pension benefits, veterans’ benefits, social security benefits and others, the presentation of a death certificate will be required.

These are just a few examples of what families could need death certificates for, but the needs will be different for each family.

On average most families will need 5-7 death certificates to close out their loved one’s affairs. However, it is common for a family to request more than the average for any unexpected circumstances.

For this reason, Cremation Society of Missouri will review our certified checklist with the family regarding what they may need death certificates for. This checklist available to the public in the Forms Library on our website (MissouriCremate.com).

To view our Forms Library, click here.

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