Even if you decide not to use our free services, we still want to help. Here is a list of things to consider by topic that you are likely to face in the next few days:
Working with the Medical Examiner/Law Enforcement:
- Once you leave the hospital you may not see your loved one’s body again until the visitation or funeral service.
- Prepare for a call from the Medical Examiner/Coroner’s office to discuss ask whom to release the body.
- Consider whether you’d like to donate your loved one’s organs. Organs must be donated immediately and some tissue must be donated within 24 hours; you will be asked to answer many medical history questions. Follow this link to a resource that can help answer your questions.
- Depending on the circumstances, there may be a police investigation.
Communication:
- You will need a system to alert family, friends, work, and school, if applicable. Please see our social media tips to help guide you through your communications.
- Consider allowing a Carson’s Village Advocate to assist you with creating a private webpage (example) to provide one convenient spot where family and friends can sign up to bring food, donate money to the family and get up to date information on what the family needs, locations/times of events and any last-minute changes.
- Your family and friends may want to donate on behalf of your loved one or to relieve funeral expenses. Be aware of all of your choices to raise money to ensure you have the most cost-effective way to raise money (A popular site charges an 8% withdrawal fee). Carson’s Village can set up a more cost-effective and easy way to raise money by setting up a free site through Carson’s Village to help coordinate the donations.
- People are going to ask you what you need. Among your needs might be:
- Asking people to clean out the deceased person’s room/personal belongings.
- Asking people to cancel appointments for the deceased.
- Asking people to help clean the house or mow the lawn.
- Each family is different – remember your time is best spent preparing for the events this week and caring for your family. Accept help as it is offered.
- Use Carson’s Village stickers to label items brought to the house to help track donations and gifts so that you can write thank you notes at a later date.
Funeral Home Preparation:
- The funeral home meeting can take up to three hours. Eat ahead of time. View our funeral meeting preparation form to assist you with planning the funeral home visit once you have chosen a funeral home.
- You will need to write an obituary and you can find a guide to writing an obituary on Carson’s Village website that can assist you.
Funeral Service Preparation:
- Ensure that you and your dependents have clean clothes to wear to the funeral/services.
- Laundry, shopping, or a trip to the dry cleaners may be necessary to get everyone ready.
Paperwork:
- Determine whether the deceased had insurance and/or a will and where they are located.
- Determine if you or others will need to take time off work and if you can use vacation, bereavement, or FMLA.
We hope that these few items will help you better navigate the process that you have before you.