Day 1: official reporting and immediate practical steps
- Call the GP or hospital for a death certificate;
- Engage a funeral director. They register with the municipality, obtain the death certificate and arrange the funeral;
- Inform close family as you see fit;
- Do not sign for an insurance the funeral director presents. Many people unknowingly sign a deed that limits options later.
Practical: ask the funeral director for at least 6 original death certificates. You will need them at various institutions and copies are not always accepted.
Days 2 to 4: organising the funeral
- Choose between burial or cremation;
- Arrange the venue, flowers and the announcement card;
- Look for the will or any funeral wish;
- Check whether the deceased had funeral insurance and with which insurer;
- Sketch a provisional financial overview so you know what budget is realistic.
Days 3 to 7: practical matters
- Notify the employer or pension institution;
- Cancel subscriptions (newspaper, streaming, sports club);
- Inform the landlord or energy supplier if the deceased lived alone;
- Arrange care for any pets;
- Gather important documents: passport, ID, driving licence, bank cards, keys;
- Secure the home if it is now empty.
What NOT to do in the first week
A frequent pitfall is to start removing things, withdrawing cash or clearing the home immediately. This can be treated as pure acceptance of the estate, after which you can no longer renounce or accept beneficially if debts later surface.
So this week, do not:
- withdraw money from the deceased's account for yourself;
- take or divide personal items;
- empty the home;
- put subscriptions in your own name;
- enter sale negotiations on contents or property.
Limit practical steps to what is strictly necessary to organise the funeral and secure the home.
Reporting bank accounts
Notify each bank where the deceased held accounts within a week. The bank blocks the account, requests the right documents and sends a bereavement pack. Per-bank guides.
Looking for the will
Check the home for a will. If there is none, request an extract from the Centraal Testamentenregister. For the first heir the extract is free; later requests cost a small fee.
Mentally: give yourself room
The combination of grief and admin is heavy. Give yourself time. Almost nothing this week is truly urgent except the funeral and securing the home. The inheritance tax filing has 8 months. Banks can wait. The home can stay empty.
Tip: keep one log
Keep a single notebook or document with:
- who you spoke to (date, name, contact);
- which documents you requested;
- which appointments you have;
- which payments you made for the deceased (funeral) so you can settle them later.
This log makes later steps much easier and prevents duplicate work.