Hospices in Pennsylvania.

Six questions to ask the hospice caring for your family

After-death support is part of hospice care, but it’s a part many families haven’t heard much about ahead of time. If a hospice is already caring for someone you love, its team can answer all of these now — and asking early means the day itself holds fewer unknowns.

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  “Who do we call at the moment of death — at any hour — and will a nurse come to pronounce the death?”

  For an expected death under hospice care, the first call is usually the hospice, not 911 — but confirm exactly how your team wants it handled, and keep the number where everyone can find it.

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  “Is there any rush afterward? How long can we stay with them before anyone needs to be called or anything needs to happen?”

  It's easy to assume there's a clock. Usually there isn't — and it helps to hear that from your own team ahead of time.

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  “When the time comes, who calls the funeral home we've chosen — your team or us — and what will they need from us?”

  Practice varies. Some hospice nurses make that call for you; others will ask you to. Knowing which, in advance, is one less decision at the worst moment.

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  “Who certifies the death certificate, and how quickly? Is there anything that could slow it down?”

  Nearly everything that follows — bank accounts, insurance, benefits — waits on death certificates. A delay in the signing delays all of it.

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  “What happens to the medications and the equipment — who disposes of or collects each, and what's our part?”

  Controlled medications have disposal rules, and equipment pickup runs on the supplier's schedule. Sorting out whose job each piece is now saves a string of phone calls later.

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  “What bereavement support do you offer afterward — for how long, and which family members can use it?”

  Grief support after the death is part of hospice care, and it often extends well past the funeral. Asking now means you'll know what's there before you need it — including for children.

However your hospice answers, the funeral decisions stay yours — which funeral home, what kind of service, what it should cost. Nobody else can make those choices for you, and you don’t have to figure out the prices alone. Hospices can offer Honest Funeral to every family they serve. Whether or not yours does, the tools work for you today — check any funeral quote free →