WHEN DEATH OCCURS

When Death Occurs

Immediately following the death of a loved one, there are many decisions that must be made. At this time, you may find your emotions are heightened, and for that reason it is a good idea to ask for help in making all the decisions and arrangements. Additionally, our Pegues funeral home’s staff ready to assist you and the family in making the best decisions possible. This information can help guide you and your family through the process.

Contact The Proper Authorities

Before any arrangements and decisions may be made, a legal pronouncement of death must be declared. If your loved one dies inside of a medical or nursing facility like a hospital or nursing home, the staff will handle getting this declaration made.

If your loved one dies at home, you need to immediately contact the local emergency officials. Family members who die under hospice care can be declared by the hospice staff. This legal declaration must be made before the family can proceed with making any funeral arrangements or handling any legal affairs.

Begin To Make Arrangements

The process of funeral arrangements can feel overwhelming, but we are experts at taking the stress off the families. Once a death occurs you may contact our office at (662)842-4872. We will immediately begin with helping arrange final wishes. Once we have the initial conversation and take your loved one into our care, we will schedule a time to make arrangements.

During the time of arrangements with one of our talents and dedicated Funeral Directors the family will decide if they wish to bury or cremate their loved ones, you may wish to do both, and what type of service would be preferred. These decisions include the time, date and location of any service; what type of casket or urn your loved one needs; drafting an obituary notice; deciding on pallbearers; and make any decisions about the specifics of the service like who the minister will be, what music will be played and who will speak.

As part of the process in making the funeral arrangements, if the deceased was active or retired military, our team will assist with contacting the Veterans Administration to perform any military honors at the service and receive a burial flag.

Information Funeral Directors May Need

Once you have met the Pegues funeral director, they will advise you on any information or paperwork needed for the death certificate or to proceed with making final arrangements.

Information Needed:

• Full name and address
• Marital status
• Race/Ethnicity
• Date and city of birth
• Highest level of education
• Father’s name, mother’s maiden name
• Name of spouse
• Occupation and employer

Documents You May Need

You may find it helpful to have the following documents avaliable:

• Life insurance policies
• Military discharge papers (form DD 214)
• Social Security number
• Account statements
• Beneficiary designations



Taking Care Of Personal Property

A few things to consider following a death:



•  Securing your loved one’s property. Make sure their home and vehicle are properly secure.

• If your loved one has a pet, make the necessary arrangements for the pet to be taken care of by family or friends.

• Any mail that comes to your loved one should be forwarded to a family member that plans to handle the deceased’s estate. Any mail that piles up at a vacant home only alarms potential intruders that a home is empty.