Grief Support
The service ends. The rest of it does not - and you should not have to work it out alone.
GRIEF DOES NOT KEEP A SCHEDULE
There is no correct order to grief and no timeline you are behind on. Some families feel the weight of it in the first week; for others it arrives months later, on an ordinary afternoon. Both are normal.
What helps most families is knowing that the practical work - the paperwork, the accounts, the notifications - has a finite list, and that someone will answer the phone when they get stuck on it. Our staff will, at either office, for as long after the service as you need us.
WHAT NEEDS DOING, AND WHO DOES IT
Death certificates
Order more copies than you think you need - banks, insurers, the DMV, and the county recorder each want their own. We prepare and file the certificate and can order additional certified copies for you.
Social Security
We notify the Social Security Administration of the death as part of our basic services. A surviving spouse or dependent child may be eligible for a lump-sum death payment and for survivor benefits - those you claim directly.
Veterans Affairs
If your loved one served, the family may be entitled to burial allowances, a government-furnished marker, a burial flag, and interment in a National Cemetery. See our Veteran Benefits page.
Accounts and estate paperwork
Pensions, insurance policies, utilities, subscriptions, and online accounts all need to be closed or transferred. This is the part that stretches on for months, and it is where most families feel the most alone.
HELP WITH THE AFTERWARD
Blair's families have access to Everything After, an aftercare service that walks step by step through closing accounts, transferring assets, and the rest of the estate paperwork.
IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING
Grief that does not lift, or that turns into thoughts of harming yourself, is not weakness and it is not something to wait out alone. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free, confidential, and staffed 24 hours a day - call or text 988.
Local hospice organizations and churches throughout Tehama and Shasta counties run grief support groups that are open to anyone, whether or not their loved one was in their care. Call us and we will point you toward the ones we know families have been helped by.