We had one copy of his death certificate and it was fine. If places asked for it, they just wanted us to email a copy. Only one place wanted it mailed and they said a color Xerox would be fine.
Knowing my Dad’s SS number helped a lot. I didn’t even have to know his account number for many things. Of course, pension people are only too happy to stop the flow of money!
^Too late to edit, but that should say you may need an inventory. 
We did have a few places that wanted an original of the death certificate. You can order more, though, if you need them – 10 should be sufficient. You pay some kind of up front fee again plus the per certificate cost if you need to order extras, but it isn’t a lot in most states (not sure about CA, though).
First, I’m so sorry for your loss. I have been executrix of my father’s estate for 11 mo now and still not done. Hoping your experience is easier! In my state (NJ) I couldn’t do anything until I had the “testementary letters” from the county courthouse which officially appointed me as executrix. The death cert was required for that. Then after getting a federal EIN, I could get all the assets changed to estate account names. Hardest part was sorting the house into items of value (either sentimental or actual retail value), important papers and items of no value (sentimental or other). In my state we also have estate tax and we had to file to get release of real estate based on assessed values. It’s a real ordeal, definately a marathon not a sprint.
^Yes, this was similar to my experience (in Colorado). The one I was involved with was more complex than the OP’s, though – lots of property in another state, even a house in another country, and a litigious heir. It took us many years to close… but the OP’s sounds much more straightforward.
I am sorry for your loss. Each state varies in their requirements. I was the executrix for my dad’s estate in NJ and I can attest to everything amandakayak said. The best advice I can give is to set about a spreadsheet on Google docs (that you can share with your sister). I had columns for DATE (for each time I did something on the estate), CONTACT/PHONE (who did I talk to? phone or email info), SUBJECT (was I dealing with the accountant, pension people, setting up an appointment,etc), ACTION (what happened during this phone call, visit, etc), STATUS (what happens next?) and DONE (the date and nature of the last step).
You will be dealing with this for many months and its very easy to lose track of what you’ve done and what you still need to do. Plus, your sister can follow the spreadsheet and stay clued in on the progress.
@amandakayak Yes, I think this will all be much more amicable and fewer accounts and assets to deal with. As far as I know, there’s just the house, 2 cars, and some stock. (We both have 17-year-olds with licenses and no cars, so that may be easy.) My sister thinks there are only 2-3 credit cards. My dad believed he had everything in the trust, but we’ll see.
CA is $21/death certificate with no one-time payment. Probably need fewer for my mom, who died 5 years ago, because she was disabled with MS for many years.
Inventory is a really good idea. Thanks.
@Mansfield Great idea! I use Google Docs for everything regarding kids and kid-organizations. Hadn’t thought of it for this. Duh!
Oh it’s been amicable but it’s still an ordeal. Pace yourself and keep records.
So sorry for your loss. Agree that his attorney should have a fair amount of info if he was super organized. If you were not on his accounts they will be frozen until the will is probated (this is from memory). Empty safety deposit boxes ASAP if you can. Get letters of testamentary so you can act on behalf of the estate. And contact his accountant so you can do 2015 taxes and get ready for an estate final tax filing next year (and yes get a tax I’d. My dads accountant didn’t do it and either did the attorney- my accountant had to do it for us and redo the final taxes. That could have been easily avoided.
Unless the accounts are set up to roll to the trust upon his death – then the trustee has access to them. My accounts are all set up that way, with a trust that is empty until I die and all my accounts POD to the trust (my house rolls there, too). But you need to talk to the attorney even in this situation. There are steps to take related to the estate (example: cremation costs to cover) and you need to know if those can be paid from the trust or what.
Regarding the final estate return, the estate may or may not have a tax return, depending on whether everything goes to the trust – there may be no “estate” with no EIN or tax returns – it depends. Even if there is an estate, this may not be the final return year. And a 2016 personal return may still be needed if he died in 2016.
Did dad set up a trust? Didn’t catch that.
When my mom died the bank tried to freeze dads checking account even though it was an “or” account. They had a trust. We then opened a new account in dads and my name, as I handled all his affairs. And I became co and then successor trustee, but dad’s accounts became mine (though I did the right thing and gave my brother his share even though he did nothing but cause trouble and aggravation and did nothing to help). It was easier to have no challenges to acces his funds, to pay his bills, his funeral expenses, his caregivers, etc.
Very interested in this thread. We are going through his very thing with H’s father who died in January. Starting the probate this week - we had to wait for the death certificate. The house will be a chore. H is the executor. We do have an attorney who is starting the process and going to walk us through this.
I thought the OP said there is a trust, but the attorney who set it up is retired.
I believe we had 25 copies of death certificate for my SisIL and have used most of them. Many companies will NOT accept anything other than a certified copy and will not take a Xerox or color copy. I have asked for some of them to give me back the death certificate after they are done with it or we would likely have already run out! With prior relatives, we were able to make do with fewer.
Another former executor here:
My parents’ trust document had some verbiage in it that said they hoped I wouldn’t take a fee. Can’t recall exactly, but it said something, so check the trust. When I had to fly to/from the city where they lived to handle issues related to the sale of the house, I did let the estate pay the airfare. But I didn’t take a penny for my time, and yes it is a TON of work and takes a TON of time and organization.
Another NJ Executrix here, going on 10 months. One recommendation: Call his house insurance company. They had to write us a new policy because it is considered a “vacant house”, which costs more to insure. You want to make sure you’re protected in case of vandalism / fire, etc.
And most important of all: patience! Every company you deal with needs to verify that you have the right to act on behalf of the estate, and requires different documentation. Things take so much longer than you think they need to. It’s great that you and your sister are on good terms. Slow and steady wins the race! Good luck!
I needed more than 20 death certificates for my mom’s estate. Every financial firm wanted an original, along with medallion signature. After she passed, I took my dad to bank and closed their account, put his and my name on new account, changed names on lock box. Most significantly, I took all his individual stocks and put them into Fidelity. So then, I only needed a few death certificates.
Good luck.
Some insurance companies will CANCEL the insurance if the house is vacant. Try Foremost insurance if you need to find new insurance.
I took a fee, but our estate was over a thousand hours of work. Our estate attorney who was so helpful most of the time really was unhelpful when icame to determining a rate, though.
We never needed medallion signature or guarantee, but did have a lot of notarizations.
Count it as a blessing that your dad didn’t conduct his life online. You might not know what bills need to be paid or what accounts he had, and you would be drowning in a sea of usernames and passwords. It’s much easier if he dealt with life by mail. You will get his bills, and you will pay them. If they are bills for services that are no longer needed, you can contact the company and see what you need to do to get the account cancelled. You will also get statements from his bank accounts, credit cards, etc. Eventually, you will need to do something about these, but not in the next 5 minutes. (Look at the bank statements, though, for anything that’s being automatically deposited or withdrawn every month. Some of these things may need prompt attention.)
You need a lawyer. If not the one who set up the trust, you need another one who practices in the community where your father lived. You also need a funeral director. These people are valuable not only for the services that they themselves provide but also because they can refer you to other services that you need.
I would contact a Realtor sooner rather than later. They have incredible connections in their community and can find you almost anything you might need (including contractors who can clean snow off the sidewalks or mow the lawn). They can also tell you if there’s anything that needs to be done to the house to make it more saleable (maybe some painting? replacing broken appliances?), and you can get started on that right away.
It sounds like your father lived alone. So did mine. Two of the most important things my sister and I did after his death were to clean out the refrigerator and take out the trash. If these things are neglected too long, it can get icky.
Did your father have a car? You will need the title in order to sell it, and you may need to sell it promptly. (After my father died, we could not find the title, and it took much effort to get a replacement. In the meantime, we got an offer on his house very rapidly, and that means that the car was a problem. If we sold the house, we couldn’t leave it in the driveway, right?)
Don’t worry too much about the number of death certificates. Get plenty, but if you run out, you can get more.
Keep track of every expense you incur when working on the estate, and make sure that the estate reimburses you. You may find yourself spending a bundle. In my case, when I served as executor for my parents’ estates, I was able to be reimbursed for funeral expenses, bills I had paid, travel expenses, etc. long before the estates were settled. But you’re dealing with a trust, so the situation may be different.
Sorry for the double post, but I thought of two more issues that came up after my parents’ deaths.