08/21/2026
Welcome to this month’s installment of “Scout’s bite-sized legal briefs”.
As our office’s resident “pup”alegal and social media manager, each month I will be bringing you different small tidbits to chew over.
August’s bite: You’ve just lost a loved one - now what?
After the death of a loved one, you not only have to navigate grief, but also figuring out the next steps in handling their estate. For many, they are in uncharted territory and don’t know the first step to take.
First thing’s first: very rarely is the process of starting a probate administration very urgent. Attend to your family and final funeral arrangements. Meeting with the lawyer can generally wait until after (quick rule of thumb: many courts in this area require a death certificate to open a probate estate, so if you haven’t got those yet, you probably can’t proceed with probate anyways).
If your loved one had made funeral arrangements during their lifetime, you should be able to locate a copy of their policy and preneed arrangements. Alternatively, they may have left a “funeral directive” listing their wishes and who they wish to leave in charge of their arrangements. Funeral wishes should not generally be included in a well-drafted will, but you may need to look there as well. If the departed didn’t leave any of those, Ohio law specifies who is responsible for funeral arrangements.
Speaking of important documents, you will need to locate the will, if the decedent left one. If you are unsure where to look, we recommend checking for a small home firebox. (other popular locations include gun safes, filing cabinets, under the bed, or even the freezer!). Their estate planning documents will hopefully answer many of the outstanding questions you may have while dealing with a funeral and other next steps.
Another tip: get several copies of their policy death certificate. You will likely need one for probate, one for each life insurance policy, and one for each piece of real estate. The funeral home can likely help with getting you enough copies.
Once you have attended to those issues, received the death certificates, and found the will (if applicable), then it is probably time to call the lawyer.
Moments like this are much easier for our loved ones when we not only have a plan in place, but communicate with them in advance on what we want and where everything is located.
That’s it for Scout’s bite this month. And as my owner makes me share, I cannot offer you legal advice (Ohio does not admit dogs to the bar), but you can call him to set up a consult!
Till next time!
Woof
❤️🦴Scout
