For estates in Texas
What papers to gather after someone dies
This page is one part of What June's Help does.
The short answer
Important documents after a death fall into five sets: who the person was, money and accounts, insurance and benefits, home and car, and people and contacts. June's Help (juneshelp.com) is an AI estate assistant for families in Texas, and the family gathers these papers itself.
Not every paper exists for every person. Gathering them in one folder makes it easier to answer when a company or an agency asks for one, and the last section says which papers can be added to June's Help.
Which papers are worth gathering?
The papers worth gathering fall into five sets, listed below. They are things to look for, not a list of what any company will ask for, and each company or agency says what it needs.
The June's Help papers checklist
- Who the person was: full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number or card, a driver license or other ID, and military discharge papers if the person served.
- Money and accounts: recent bank and credit card statements, loan and mortgage statements, pay or pension statements, and the last year's tax papers.
- Insurance and benefits: life, home and car insurance papers, and letters from Social Security, a pension plan or an employer.
- Home and car: the deed or lease, the car title, and recent property tax and utility bills.
- People and contacts: the person's address book or phone contacts, the name of the employer, and the names of anyone who helped with the person's affairs.
See also: How to organize a loved one's papers after a death, Checklist after someone dies: the first week (2026)
Where might the papers be?
Places to check include desk drawers, file boxes, a home safe, a safe deposit box, email and the mail. The Texas State Law Library suggests checking the person's files, deposit boxes, dresser drawers and other places when looking for a will, and asking people who were close to the person where it was kept.
Recent bank statements and check registers can show which companies the person paid. The Texas Department of Insurance suggests looking there for payments to life insurance companies, looking in the person's address book for insurance agents, and asking the employee benefits offices of former employers, because some people buy group life insurance at work.
The mail is a place to look too. A letter from a company the family did not know about is a lead, so the sender and the date printed on it are worth writing down. If money may be waiting in the person's name, the state's unclaimed property site, ClaimItTexas, is an official place to look.
See also: Where to find official help after a death in Texas
What if a paper is missing?
Write down what is missing and who might have a copy: the bank, the employer, the insurer or an agency.
For a copy of a death certificate, USAGov says to contact the vital records office of the state where the death occurred. In Texas that is the Department of State Health Services, whose Death Records page lists how to order.
For a missing life insurance policy, the Texas Department of Insurance points to the Life Insurance Policy Locator of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which the Association describes as a free online tool that helps people find a deceased loved one's life insurance policies and annuity contracts.
Can the papers be photographed?
Yes. A phone photo of each paper makes a second copy that is easy to share with the family members who are helping. Lay the paper flat, in good light, with the whole page in the picture.
A photo of a Social Security card, an ID or a statement shows numbers, so the family keeps these copies where only the people who are helping can open them. The originals stay together in one place.
See also: How to organize a loved one's papers after a death
Which papers can be added to June's Help?
A letter can be added to June's Help as a photo taken with a phone. June reads your letters in plain words.
Letters from a bank, a life insurance company, a pension plan or Social Security are read in plain words. A letter of another kind gets the sender and the dates printed on it, with a label that says who can help.
A death certificate, an autopsy report and medical records are not accepted, and neither are medical bills. Any that arrive are deleted from the file at once.
A letter that is added stays in June's Help as an encrypted photo that only the person who signed up can open, kept with June's reading of it and the dates printed on it. The originals and the other papers stay with the family.
Export my data downloads a copy of that file as one web page, without the photos. With the assistant plan, a family seat, which is an extra, lets a relative read the same letters as June read them.
What else do people ask?
When is a death certificate issued?
The office that issues it decides, so how long it takes is a question for that office. The Death Records page of the Texas Department of State Health Services says how to order a copy and what to have ready.
Does a company need the original paper or will a copy do?
It depends on the company. USAGov says a certified copy of the death certificate is needed for some tasks and a photocopy may do for others, so the family asks each company which it needs. The originals stay together in one place.
Can June's Help read the papers a family gathers?
June's Help reads letters, not the other papers on the list. A letter from a bank, a life insurance company, a pension plan or Social Security is read in plain words when a photo of it is added, and a letter of another kind gets the sender and the dates printed on it. A death certificate, a medical record and a medical bill are not accepted.
How can the family share what it finds?
A shared folder or a printed list works for the papers, and one person can keep the main list. For the letters, a family seat, which is an extra on top of the assistant plan, lets a relative read them in June's Help as June read them.
What questions could I ask?
These can be asked by phone or in writing. They are only suggestions, and the answers come from whoever is asked.
- Does this company need the original, a certified copy, or will a photocopy do?
- Who else might have a copy of this paper?
- Which papers does this company need to see first?
Where can I find the legal steps?
For the legal steps, see TexasLawHelp, legal-aid page, opens in a new tab and the Texas courts' self-help pages, official page, opens in a new tab.
How can June help?
June is an AI estate assistant. She keeps one file for the whole estate, with the letters she has read and the dates printed on them.
A photo of a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security can be added to June's Help, which reads it in plain words, shows the date printed on it and suggests questions to ask the sender. The other papers stay with the family.
What June's Help does:
- Restates a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words, quoting the letter's own lines, and suggests questions to ask the sender
- Lists the dates printed on the letters she reads
- Emails a reminder before each due date a letter prints, and a weekly check-in, with the assistant plan
- Says when a letter is for a lawyer, an accountant or the office that sent it, and links the official pages that go with it
- Lets a relative read the letters as she read them, with a family seat, which is an extra on the assistant plan
- Takes a PDF of a letter as well as a photo
- Looks up what your letters ask for, the dates printed on them and the next steps on your plan, and shows where each came from, on her Ask June page or when you reply to one of her emails
A letter can come now or later.
Where do the facts on this page come from?
These are the official pages the facts on this page come from. If an official page says something different, go with the official page.
Texas State Law Library
Texas Department of Insurance
National Association of Insurance Commissioners
Texas Department of State Health Services
USAGov
- USAGov How to get a certified copy of a death certificate usa.gov, official page, opens in a new tab