Immediate Need | Bradshaw-Carter Memorial & Funeral Services & Cremations
Bradshaw-Carter Memorial & Funeral Services in Houston, TX

What to do when a loved one has died...

The moments after a death can bring confusion and stress. Our directors are here to help answer all of your questions and ease some of that anxiety. Our team is prepared to help arrange the initial transportation of someone from the place of death to us here at Bradshaw-Carter, after which we have the ability to go over all of the logistics of filing a death certificate, and (if requested) the process of planning an event. Please consider reviewing our First Steps Guide to better understand the decisions we help you to make. Our team is available to help via telephone 24 hours a day to get you the answers you need. 

We provide:

  • Transportation arrangements
  • Customized funeral, burial, cremation, veteran and pre-planning services
  • Licensed and experienced funeral directors
  • Cremation services conducted in a crematory on site. Your loved one never has to leave our care
  • A beautiful, warm, and welcoming home for services
  • Immediate assistance for every step of the process
If a death occurs at a hospital or facility, you may inform the staff to contact us by giving them our name and number. If a death occurs at home under home hospice, we can come to the home once a hospice nurse has shared with us the name of the doctor who will help to sign the death certificate, and once a doctor has officially made a declaration of death. We stand ready day or night to assist.

If a person dies at home and is not under a doctor's care, the medical examiner may have to decide whether to do an inquest. Your first call may be to 911. The police and medical examiner will decide whether an investigation is warranted. If so, your loved one may be transported by the medical examiners' staff to their facility. In other cases a detailed examination is not needed, and police officers may ask for the funeral home to come directly to the house. Our team is familiar with that process and can help you understand the aspects of any sort of medical investigation if necessary. 

Call Us Anytime - 24/7 

our staff ready to help when death occurs

Visit Us. 

Bradshaw-Carter Memorial & Funeral Services
| 1734 W Alabama St
| Houston, TX 77098
| Tel: 713-521-0066
|

Office Hours:
Monday to Sunday – Open 24 Hours

Let us help guide you

What do you do when a death occurs?

Being present for the peaceful death of a loved one can be a blessing, albeit a difficult one to accept. There is nothing that can prepare you for the emotions you will face as you sit bedside for a loved one’s final moments, yet your presence there can be healing and therapeutic. It can give you new insight into your own capacity for care, rekindle the joy in your relationships, and provide closure on old wounds.

There are also some practical considerations to make, however. Whether you’re literally sitting bedside during those final moments or you receive a call in the wee hours of the morning, it’s important for you to know the next steps to take.

when a death occurs

Notify Loved Ones

The specific steps will depend on the environment in which your loved one dies. If it’s in a hospital or care facility, the staff there will likely help you through the preliminary steps, such as getting in touch with the funeral home.

It will likely fall to you to contact friends and loved ones. The easiest way to do this is to make a few calls and ask each relative to call a couple more people—ensuring that you don’t have the burden of contacting every single person with this unwelcome news. Ideally, you’ll have a friend with you to offer support as you make these tough calls.

If you don’t have someone to call the funeral home for you—including if the death takes place at home—you’ll want to make that a top priority. A licensed funeral home director will be able to assist you with the logistics of transporting the body, acquiring a death certificate, selecting a casket or urn, preparing an obituary, planning the memorial service, and more.

A final call you’ll need to make, if your loved one was working, is to his or her employer. Simply let the employer know about the death, and at a later date you can call back to ensure that all owed income and benefits are paid out.

With any additional questions you have, don’t hesitate to ask your licensed funeral director, who can be an invaluable guide during this process.

notify and call loved ones
© 2024 Bradshaw-Carter Memorial & Funeral Services. All Rights Reserved. | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | CFS Privacy Policy