If you have just found someone, stop reading and call 911. Everything else can wait.
This page is for the hours and days after that call, when the house is quiet again and there is a list of things to do that nobody has given you. An unattended death — when someone dies alone and is not found straight away — comes with a particular set of practical steps, and almost none of them are obvious.
Here is the order they usually happen in, what the law requires, and what is genuinely up to you.
1. The call, and who takes charge
Georgia law requires that a death not attended by a physician be reported immediately to the coroner or county medical examiner. The obligation is written broadly: it falls on any law enforcement officer or other person having knowledge of the death. In practice, calling 911 discharges it — the dispatcher sets everything else in motion.
From there, responsibility divides. Under O.C.G.A. § 45-16-25 the coroner or county medical examiner takes charge of the person, and a peace officer present at the scene has jurisdiction over the scene itself. You are not in charge of either, and you cannot speed either of them up.
How long this takes varies with the circumstances, and anyone who quotes you a firm number is guessing. What you can do is ask the investigator on site what happens next and roughly when — they deal with this daily and will usually tell you plainly.
2. Do not start cleaning while it is still a scene
While the officer has jurisdiction over the scene, it is theirs. Even where nothing suspicious is suspected, moving or cleaning things before the scene is released can complicate the investigation and, in the worst case, the death certificate that everything else depends on.
Wait for it to be released. Ask explicitly whether it has been — it is a normal question and you are entitled to a clear answer.
3. The paperwork you will need
Two documents come up repeatedly, and they come from different places.
- The autopsy report, if there is one. The GBI states that official reports can be requested through its open records department, and that there is no charge to next of kin. Reports take time — the office publishes current expectations, and pressing does not shorten it.
- The death certificate. This comes from the vital records office of the Georgia county where the person died, or through the state Department of Public Health's death records service. This is the document banks, insurers, and employers will ask for. Order several certified copies at once — almost everyone underestimates how many they need, and going back for more is slower than getting them together.
4. Securing the property
Once the scene is released, the property is simply a property again, with whatever condition it is in. A few practical things matter more than people expect:
- Limit who goes in. Not for legal reasons — to spare people. Family members who walk in unprepared account for a great deal of avoidable harm in the weeks that follow.
- Do not run the air conditioning to clear the smell. Circulating air through the HVAC system can move contamination into ductwork that was not affected before, which turns a one-room problem into a whole-house one.
- Leave pets out of it. This one is rarely mentioned and matters.
- Photograph before anything is touched. If there is any chance of an insurance claim, the condition at release is what the adjuster will want to see.
5. Deciding about the cleanup
You have a genuine choice here, and you should know both halves of it.
Georgia's registration rules do not apply to a person cleaning property they own, or to family, friends, and neighbors helping without payment. No law requires you to hire anyone. What makes it difficult is not permission — it is that decomposition moves into porous material below what you can see, the waste is regulated and cannot go out with household trash, and people who start this work in a home they know very often cannot finish it.
If you do hire someone, Georgia gives you a way to check them that most states do not. Anyone performing this work commercially must be registered with the Secretary of State, and an unregistered operator is barred from recovering the cost from the property owner. Ask for the registration number before you agree to anything.
6. The cost, and who carries it
Insurance is the usual answer, but coverage genuinely varies by policy and by what happened, and we are not going to tell you what yours says. Where there is no coverage, the path typically runs through the estate; after a violent crime specifically, Georgia's victim compensation program may apply. We have written a separate guide on who pays that goes through each of those properly.
The one thing worth saying here: a company should be dealing with your insurer on your behalf, not handing you a claim to file during a bereavement.
7. The part that is not a task
Every list like this one implies that if you complete the steps you are finished. You will not feel finished, and the gap between having handled everything and feeling any better can be disorienting.
There is no timetable for this and no order you are supposed to do it in. If the property can wait, let it wait. If you would rather never see the room again, that can be arranged — much of our work is done with the family somewhere else entirely, and it is an ordinary request rather than an unusual one.
If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, call 911. If you are in the U.S. and need emotional support, call or text 988 or use the 988 Lifeline chat. The 988 Lifeline provides free, confidential support 24/7/365.
This article is general information, not legal, medical, or insurance advice. Procedures vary by county and circumstances differ — confirm details with the relevant agency, your insurer, or an attorney before relying on them.
The work itself: Unattended death cleanup.
