When Someone Dies: The Practical Guide to the Logistics of Death

A lawyer and venture capitalist provides a complete, practical guide for dealing with the concrete details surrounding the death of a loved one, from funeral and estate planning to navigating the complexities of online identities.

Scott Taylor Smith, a venture capitalist and lawyer, had plentiful resources, and yet after his mother died, he made a series of agonizing and costly mistakes in squaring away her affairs. He could find countless books that dealt with caring for the dying and the emotional fallout of death, but very few that dealt with the logistics.
In the aftermath of his mother’s death, Smith decided to write the book he wished he’d had. When Someone Dies provides readers with a crucial framework for making good, informed, money-saving decisions in the chaotic thirty days after a loved one dies and beyond. It provides essential, concrete guidance on:
• Making funeral and memorial service arrangements
• Writing an obituary
• Estate planning
• Contacting family and friends
• Handling your loved one’s online footprint
• Navigating probate
• Dealing with finances, including trusts and taxation
• And much, much more
Featuring concise checklists in each chapter, this guide offers answers to practical questions, enabling loved ones to save time and money and focus on healing.

Scott Smith is a partner in Viant Capital, a San Francisco-based boutique investment bank and tech business incubator committed to providing emerging growth and small to mid-market companies with high quality strategic advisory and capital-raising services. When Someone Dies is his first book.

Michael Castleman has written more than 2,000 magazine and Web articles, four mystery novels, and thirteen nonfiction books in the fields of health and sexuality. During his thirty-five-year career as an award-winning journalist and novelist, his books have sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide.