It's tough enough to have a relative die but then one has to prove that the person died. It's called a death certificate and financial institutions and other businesses have to see a death certificate before allowing heirs or other beneficiaries to inherit, close accounts, pay bills, etc. When our mother died, we were told it would take two to three weeks to get a death certificate. Fortunately the mortuary we used pulled some strings and we got the certificates in three days rather than three weeks. I think this was because both my brother and I were residing out-of-state at the time of her death. It took us a day and a half but we were able to take care of all the Cheyenne stuff. There are just a couple of other things to close or transfer but at least as the executor I can do it from home. Dying just isn't easy. A person has to prove he/she passed on.