Afterfile: Death Checklist

afterfile is the file you would assemble by hand if someone had died and nobody had told you where to start.

It is a checklist of the steps that apply to your household, written for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, arranged in the order the paperwork actually comes at you: the first days, registering the death, the funeral, the estate, telling organisations, and closing the file.

WHAT IS IN IT

- The medical certificate, the coroner, the registrar, and the green form the funeral director cannot start without.
- Registration deadlines for each UK nation, what to take, and how many death certificates to order.
- Tell Us Once, and the list of what it does not cover, so you know what is left for you.
- The funeral: an itemised quote, funeral plans, death in service, and the Funeral Expenses Payment.
- The estate: valuing it, Inheritance Tax, probate or confirmation, solicitors, and the statutory notice that protects an executor from debts nobody knew about.
- Seventeen organisations to tell, one at a time, with a tracker that keeps the date and the reference each one gives you.
- Ten documents in the folder, so you can see which paper you are still missing.
- A last page for the part of this that is not paperwork.

HOW IT WORKS

Answer three questions - where the death happened, whether there is a will, and whether you are the one dealing with it - and the file builds itself. Steps that do not apply are left out. Tick a step and it moves to done.

Every step tells you what to bring, how long it takes and the public guidance it came from, with a link to the source page so you can check a fee or a deadline yourself. Fees and time limits move, so the app points you at the authority rather than asking you to trust a number.

FREE AND PAID

The first week stays free: the first days and the registration, all the way to the green form. One purchase opens the rest - the funeral, the estate, the organisations to tell, and the closing of the file. There is no subscription, no account and no advertising.

PRIVACY

Nothing is uploaded. There is no sign in, no analytics and no advertising. The file is stored on your device and the app works with no connection at all.

WHAT IT IS NOT

afterfile is a checklist and a filing cabinet. It is not legal advice, not a probate service, and not a substitute for a solicitor or an accountant. When an estate is complicated, the app says so and points you at the right authority.

The guidance is drawn from GOV.UK, the NHS, nidirect, mygov.scot, The Gazette and the bereavement charities. afterfile is not affiliated with any of them.