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.
The kit itself. Sample pages, filled in to show you what goes where.
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.
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.
The Estate Kit was built for families outside the United States first, and the American edition has only just been released. We could have filled this page with five-star quotes and a count of families helped. We would rather show you nothing than show you something we invented. So here is what we do put our name to instead — four things you can hold us to.
A digital kit: the step-by-step 48-6-9 plan plus the guided fill-in pages that feed it, delivered by email as printable files. You print it at home and keep it in one folder. Nothing is shipped, nothing is installed, nothing expires.
It is not a will and not a trust, and it is not legal, tax or financial advice. We are not attorneys and we do not advise on your situation. It is an organizational aid — the part your attorney, your CPA and your advisor do not do for you.
One payment, in US dollars, at the price printed on this page. No subscription, no renewal, no auto-charge. Nobody calls you, nobody asks what your accounts are worth, and there is no upsell to a trust waiting on the other side.
Email us within 30 days and we refund you in full — no form to fill in, no questions, no phone call to sit through. The full wording is in our Terms of Sale.
If you own your home, the Settled Family Pack is the one to start with. Every kit is one payment in US dollars, delivered by email to print at home, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. No subscription, and nothing renews.
An estate attorney bills around $365 an hour, and the median trust package runs about $2,475. (Median across a nationwide study of 909 law firms, LegalTemplates, 2025; hourly rates are reported in a $200–500 range depending on the market.) 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