Unattended Death Cleanup planning tools
Work through cost, hiring, insurance, first steps and disposal at your own pace.
The tools on this page are built for what happens when a death is found late. Someone is usually managing things from far away. The property has an odor other people can smell. And nobody knows yet how far the damage reached. The First 24 Hours Planner tells a landlord, executor, or relative what to do at the property today. That includes how to handle neighbors and shared air systems. The DIY or Call a Pro? Risk Check explains why a mop and open windows will not work here. The Cost Range Estimator helps you expect a job that may include tearing out flooring and subfloor. The Company Vetting Checklist, Insurance Claim Organizer, and Waste and Disposal Classifier help with hiring, paperwork, and questions about where the materials went.
Get an email reply about unattended death cleanup
Send a short message to the follow-up inbox. A coordinator can reply by email. This form does not send emergency help; call 911 first if anyone is in danger.
Choose a tool
Each tool is free and private: nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere. Use the results to get ready for a visit from a cleanup company or a call with your insurer.
Cost Range Estimator
Set the affected area, surface types, severity and extras to see a rough cost range and what pushes it up or down.
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Company Vetting Checklist
Fifteen questions to ask any cleanup company, a score that shows how ready you are to hire, and a list of what is still unanswered.
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Insurance Claim Organizer
A guided checklist from finding the policy to tracking the insurer’s decision, with a printable summary of where the claim stands.
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First 24 Hours Planner
Tell the planner a few facts about the situation and get an ordered list of who to call, what not to touch, and what to photograph.
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Waste & Disposal Classifier
Five questions about the material point to the likely waste category and which authority to confirm the rules with.
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DIY or Call a Pro? Risk Check
Eight yes-or-no questions that produce a risk level and explain when professional help is the safer choice.
Open toolKnowledge quiz
A short quiz with an explanation for every answer, so you can check what you know before you make decisions.
Take the quizHow these tools fit unattended death cleanup
Every tool gives you something you can copy and share. That matters when the people involved have never met. They may be an executor in another state, a local property manager, a family member, and a company. A landlord can run the planner and send the results to the estate's lawyer. An executor can run the vetting checklist and send open questions to two companies at once. No tool stores what you enter. None asks about the person who died, beyond what the property shows. The focus stays on access, authority, containment, scope, and records. Those are the things an outsider can really help with.
Know the limits before you rely on any result. The estimator cannot see whether fluids reached the floor beams. The risk check cannot smell the hallway. The classifier cannot tell you what your county's waste hauler will take. Each tool gives you a clear starting point and a set of questions, not a decision. Only a checked company who has lifted the flooring and taken moisture readings can give a real scope and a real price. Only the local housing or environmental authority can tell you what the law requires. Rules vary by state and county, so check with the local authority before acting on anything a tool suggests.
Facts worth knowing
Blow flies can find a body and start laying eggs within minutes of death, and the eggs hatch in 1 to 3 days.
Why it matters: Insects may be present even after a short delay, so you may want to stay out of the room and ask how they will be dealt with.
Source: North Carolina State University, Department of Entomology, 2024
Fixr's 2025 guide lists unattended death cleanup at $200 to $300 per hour, and hoarding cleanup at $25 to $150 per hour or about $1,000 per day.
Why it matters: These are rough estimates and local prices vary, so get a written quote that shows your hourly rate and expected hours.
The CDC says cleaning alone removes most harmful germs from surfaces, and disinfecting kills the germs left after cleaning.
Why it matters: Disinfectant sprayed over a dirty surface may not be enough, so ask whether your surfaces will be cleaned first.
What other people chose
Vote to see how other people answered. You can change your answer at any time.
As a landlord, how long would you wait for the tenant's family before arranging cleanup yourself?
Which part of an unattended death project would you find hardest to manage?
Questions about the unattended death cleanup tools
I am a landlord and just got the call. Which tool do I start with?
Open the First 24 Hours Planner. It asks whether the unit has been released, whether other tenants are there, whether there is odor, and a few other facts. Then it gives you a step-by-step list. The list covers access, air flow, neighbors, and who to call. Once the unit is locked up and a crew is being arranged, move on to the Company Vetting Checklist before anyone signs.
Can an executor use these tools from another state?
Yes, and they were built with that in mind. The planner gives steps you can send to whoever can get into the property. The vetting checklist works by phone or email. The claim organizer keeps a file that does not depend on being there. Ask a company for photos and a video walk-through to fill in what you cannot see. Confirm your right to sign with the estate's lawyer.
Do the tools keep any record of the property or the deceased?
No. Your choices stay in your browser and are not sent to the network. Nothing asks for an address, a name, or details about the death. The copyable results are made on your device, so save anything you want to keep before you close the tab. For an estate or a rental, you will want your own file of the work plan, photos, waste shipping records, and emails. The tools help you organize that file, but they do not keep it.
Why will the estimator not give me a number I can put in front of the estate or the owner?
Because the biggest cost factor in this work is how far fluid soaked in. No one can know that without lifting flooring and taking moisture readings. The estimator gives a range based on what you can see. It also explains what would push the range up or down. Share it as a planning figure. Tell the estate or the owner that a checked company's written work plan will replace it after an inspection.
Can these tools help me decide whether to relocate other tenants?
The planner has prompts about shared air systems, odor spreading, and talking with neighbors. These will help you think it through. The polls show how other landlords weighed the choice. The decision itself depends on the building, how bad the damage is, and local rules on livable housing. Those rules vary by state and county. Ask the company what they suggest, and check your duties with the housing authority.
Does using the tools connect me to a specific company?
No. The network teaches and helps readers reach companies, but the tools do not send you to any certain crew. When you are ready to hire, use the locations pages. Run each company through the vetting checklist. Check licenses and insurance yourself. No referral, from this network or anyone else, can promise quality, timing, or price.
What if the tools tell me something different from what a company said?
Ask the company to explain the difference. Sometimes they know something the tool cannot, like a moisture reading or a county rule. Sometimes the gap points to a corner being cut. Examples are covering the smell without removing the source, or skipping the waste shipping record. A good company will welcome the question and answer in writing. If they will not, that tells you something too, and the vetting checklist will help you weigh it.
More on unattended death cleanup
Unattended Death Cleanup services
Learn what cleanup after a late discovery involves. It covers tracing how far fluid soaked into the subfloor, odor treatment, listing belongings, and move-back-in records.
Costs explained
What drives the price, published cost ranges, and how to read a written quote line by line.
Insurance and payment
Which policies may respond, how to document a claim, and what to do if coverage is denied.
Community polls
See how other landlords, executors, and relatives handled belongings, talking with tenants, telling buyers, and subfloor choices. Share your own view without giving your name.
Knowledge quiz
Test what you know about odor signs, who is in charge, closing off rooms in shared buildings, taking out soaked materials, waste records, and final sign-off papers.
Articles and resources
Longer reads on handling an estate from far away, working with tenants after a death in the building, and what honest cleanup after a death looks like.
Field guides
Guides for landlords and executors. They cover access, who is in charge, telling the insurer, how long to hold belongings, and when people can safely move back in.
City guides
Find cleanup companies by city and state. Then check their licenses, waste handling, and how they inspect the subfloor yourself before you approve any work.