Who to Notify When Someone Dies
Understanding who to notify when it comes to someone passing away is important, especially if you’re present when a loved one passes away. It may come as a relief to know that generally, it’s the responsibility of the staff or first responders to notify officials of someone’s passing. However, notifying the rest of the family and friends is a responsibility that generally falls to the family when someone passes away. For a more comprehensive overview of what to do when someone dies, refer to our article here.
When someone dies in an unexpected fashion outside of hospice or the hospital, you should immediately call 911. The job of notifying the next of kin will fall to first responders.
When someone dies in hospice or at a hospital, the staff is responsible for notifying others of the death. You will likely be responsible for spreading the news to additional friends and family. A nurse or doctor will pronounce the patient as dead and will record the time of death officially.
When someone dies in hospice at home, the family should call the hospice company or the assigned on-call nurse to come and pronounce the patient. The hospice company will usually handle all of the paperwork, removal of the body, and notifying official parties of the death. It’ll usually fall to the family to notify the rest of the family and others that someone has passed away.
In all scenarios, it’s important to notify key figures in someone’s life when they pass away. Here is a list of important people you will likely need to get in touch with when someone dies:
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The funeral home / crematorium / body donation organization - when someone passes away, you’ll need to contact the funeral home or crematorium to coordinate disposition and services.
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Family & friends - it’s important to family and close friends know that someone has died as soon as possible.
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Lawyers / attorneys - notifying lawyers or attorneys that the decedent may have had relationships with can help them get prepared for the probate process.
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Employer, if applicable - employers need to know of someone’s passing so that they can handle necessary internal paperwork and processes.
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Any community organizations they were part of - this could be community clubs, recreational clubs, religious organizations - any organization that your loved one was a part of would likely appreciate the notice of death. Many times these organizations like to help in any way they can or support the family during their time of need.
Many people have different connections and responsibilities that their loved ones might not know about, especially after they pass away. Consider all of the potential clubs, organizations, volunteer work, social gatherings, etc. that your loved one may have been a part of. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll have necessary contact information for most of these social circles. Posting an online obituary or memorial website is an easy way to announce the passing of someone online. Even if you're unable to share the memorial website with all these individuals, they'll still be able to access it by Googling the name of the decedent. Posting a memorial website online makes it so that anyone connected to the individual can easily find it if they search for them online, which means you’ll have less need to get individual contact information for each party. Online memorial websites are also easily shared on social media platforms to more easily announce the passing of someone.
You can create an online memorial website, add an obituary, a personal note, memories, and events in under 15 minutes on Ever Loved. Once your website is created, it’ll be publicly searchable and shareable by just copying the link to your website. You can also share the website directly to Facebook on our platform. Memorial websites make it so that even those you haven't notified directly will be able to find the news out if they're perusing the internet for old friends or lost acquaintances. Many have stumbled on the obituary or memorial website of someone they knew in high school after doing a Google search out of curiosity.
Online memorial websites are an efficient way to announce the death of a loved one due to their shareable nature and the ease of set up. Anyone who visits the page will be able to share their condolences, share photos, and subscribe to receive updates whenever events are being organized. Online memorial websites are also useful because you can share that someone has passed without having to write out the explicit details each time you alert someone. You have the option to provide answers to many questions loved ones will have in the Q&A section, or you can simply leave a note on the website that more information will be shared as it becomes available.
