The news of a loved one’s death is never easy. It can be especially hard when the person who passed away was someone you knew, or even someone close to your family. However, there are some coping steps for when someone dies that can help you get through the emotional pain.
Although it might take a while, it is possible for you to move forward with their death and these steps for when someone dies would help you navigate this season.
Steps for When Someone Dies
It’s important to remember that there are many different ways to cope with the death of a loved one. While some people may experience only occasional feelings of sadness, others may experience ongoing feelings of grief and loss. Some people find it helpful to talk about their feelings openly with friends and family members; others prefer to keep things private in order for them to be able to move forward without distractions or stress.
While the grieving process is unique for each individual, there is one basic step that everyone navigating this season should take and that is to seek support from friends/family members who understand what you’re going through. Whether you feel like you need it or not, it is important that you spend more time with people. It can significantly help you in taking it a little more easy on yourself.
You can spend time with your friends/family through phone calls or visits, writing letters if possible, or talking face-to-face. You can even decide to go out and have fun with them. While this may be difficult for you, it is an extremely important phase for navigating grief.
The following further steps for when someone dies would help make this season more bearable.
Community Support
This is one of the most significant steps for when someone dies. This is very similar to seeking support from friends and family, but here, you are at liberty to connect with others who are grieving and support them as they process their grief. As you begin to go through the process with others, you’ll get to see that you are not alone and that there are a ton of people waiting to walk with you on your journey.
You can find this group of people (aka, community) as a support group, either online or physically. Reading books about grief could help too.
If you have a therapist, this would be a perfect time to reach out to them too. Talk to your therapist if you feel that talking about your feelings might help you cope better during this difficult time in your life. He or she can provide guidance on how best to deal with specific issues related to losing someone close, including how much time is needed before going back to work after a loss occurs, whether or not it’s appropriate for someone else (such as siblings) to take over financial responsibilities, what kinds of activities should be avoided because they could trigger memories surrounding previous traumatic experiences.
With community support, you can also find out how best to process all of the emotions during the funeral plans for your loved one and maybe walk through the entire funeral plans with them. Don’t be afraid to talk about worries and concerns here.
Finding a Resting Place
After you’ve chosen a funeral home and made other arrangements, it’s time to choose a resting place for your loved one. You can choose between a casket commonly referred to as a ‘coffin’ or an urn.
If you’re opting for a coffin, you’ll need to consider whether you want to purchase the burial plot or rent a space in the cemetery. Here, you’ll also need to contact gravestone services while deciding on the headstone. This will also ensure that the graveside of your loved one is well tended to.
Be sure to take a family member(s) or friend(s) along with you in case you’ll need support along the way.
Commemorating Their Life
In the days and weeks after they die, you may want to commemorate the life of your loved one.
This can be done in many ways. Some people choose to hold a memorial service at the house where they lived or worked, others prefer a cemetery funeral ceremony with burial or cremation afterward. You, along with family and friends, can also use the commemoration of life opportunity to pick out the cemetery gravestone.
Choosing a memorial ceremony is difficult, but once again, not something you have to do on your own
Alternatives to Burial
In cases where you do not want to bother about getting a casket, or cemetery gravestone, you choose to have your loved one cremated.
Affordable cremation services can help you get through the process without requiring you to spend so much money. After burning their bodies to ashes, you can release them into the sea. This method, although expensive, provides significant time-saving benefits.
If you want something more than traditional urns or vaults for the remains of your loved ones after their death, you may want to consider Earth burial. This is also known as eco-burial, and allows for more flexibility than traditional caskets with regard to how bodies are buried.
Instead of being placed inside a unit, an earth burial requires only two pieces: one wooden board for transporting the body from the home base until its final resting place; and another wooden board upon which the body lies while it is being lowered into the Earth.
In all of these, ensure you also consider your loved one and how they would like to be buried. Doing this is one of the significant steps for when someone dies and can help you cope with grief in ways you did not even imagine possible.
Small Comforts
When it comes to processing grief, small gestures can go a surprisingly long way to making you feel reasonably better. This could be a small gift or token of appreciation, a warm note, an offer to help around the house, or a hug from a friend or family member who loves you very much.
Even sharing a meal with the family, including drinks and snacks from a catering company, can make you feel incredibly comforted. As much as you can, welcome these gestures when they come in. These are incredible steps for when someone dies, even though it may not seem like it to you at the moment.
Sorting Out Assets
After the funeral process has been finalized, the question remains: ‘what to do with your loved one’s belongings?’ Regardless of how small these belongings may be, as in clothes, or how large they may be, as in vehicles, companies, houses, and so on, figuring out what to do with them can be quite a bother.
Here, it helps to get a wills trusts and estates lawyer that will help you process this. If they have written last wishes, that will prove to be a considerable help in sorting out assets.
Empty House
When you lose a loved one, particularly if it’s a husband, parent, sibling, or any other person you are used to being around a lot, the house can considerably feel empty upon their death. Here, steps for when someone dies can look like renting some parts of the house out to fill up the emptiness, or inviting more friends and family members to come over during holidays or on other occasions.
If your decision is to move out, try paying off the mortgage before you do so that there won’t be any extra costs associated with buying another home (and potentially having two mortgages). This could save money down the road.
A Hand With the Property
When you’re grieving, it can be hard to find the time and energy to deal with the estate. The more important task in that situation is making sure that everything is done properly so that your loved one’s wishes are followed through.
To help ensure this happens, consider asking estate planning lawyers to help you with property management or other tasks associated with estate planning.
Friends and family members may also be able to offer their expertise as soon as they hear about the death—or even before then. They’ll understand what they need to do first-hand and can provide emotional support while they’re at it.
However, if there isn’t anyone close by who could do this job for you (or if there are no family members at all), hiring professionals might be the best option instead of trying things yourself, carrying all of these responsibilities together with your emotional pain.
Legal professionals such as attorneys or accountants often have experience handling similar situations far more efficiently than those without any formal training whatsoever. You shouldn’t wait too long before beginning this process because doing so will only make matters worse when it comes time for filing probate court documents later on down the road. Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed by stressors like these ones over which we have little control over ourselves.
Cleaning and Rehoming
Navigating grief can cause considerable changes in a person. They may begin to lose interest in things they were interested in, including property and pets.
While it is necessary to take it slow in this season, steps for when someone dies could also look like selling out or donating items that are no longer needed. It could also mean rehoming pets, particularly in times when they remind you so much about your loved one that you just lost. Here, it is important that you know that you do not need to hold on to those properties or pets. If they cause you so much pain, by all means, do let them go.
You could also clean the house. If you have a large house and lots of clutter, hiring someone to clean it for you might be worth the cost. Where possible, ask friends and family members who understand your situation if they could help out or know of anyone who can. Consider hiring a cleaning service or dumpster rental company if necessary. They’ll bring everything out in one single trip so all the clutter doesn’t end up sitting around waiting until the next time when those things need attention again.
Moving Forward
It is worth knowing that your life might change significantly as a result of the loss of your loved one. Here, steps for when someone dies could mean moving on – physically.
While you will learn to live with your loss, it’s totally okay to feel sad at times. It’s also normal to talk about your loved one or even write about them in a journal or on social media if you’d like.
Consider hiring moving services to help make the transition easier for everyone involved by providing a secure environment where memories can be stored, shared, and honored properly.
Parting Thoughts
Coping with the news of a loved one’s death is no easy feat. It’s a literal process, so be sure to take it easy on yourself. The pain will not go away suddenly, but it gets better each day.
As you process your grief, there are a number of tasks that need to be completed. You may still be in shock. The emotions might feel overwhelming. It’s okay to give yourself time and space to grieve, while also tackling the things that need to be done. You may have questions that need answers or tasks that need to be completed, so don’t feel alone feeling lost at first.
We hope that these steps for when someone dies would adequately help you navigate your grieving process. Remember that grieving is normal and natural and don’t be afraid or embarrassed about asking for help if needed – talk with friends or family members who can offer support during this period.