Short answer: if the death was unexpected, call 911 first. If the person was on hospice and the death was expected, call the hospice nurse instead. After that, choose a funeral home, keep the home closed until it can be cleaned, and order death certificates. This checklist walks through each step for Monterey County, with notes for Santa Cruz and San Benito counties.
This article is general information, not legal advice. If you are unsure what to do, 911 dispatchers will guide you.
In Monterey County, the Sheriff-Coroner investigates deaths that are violent, sudden, unusual or unattended. That includes deaths at home where the person had not seen a doctor or qualifying hospice nurse within the 20 days before. Santa Cruz County and San Benito County also use a Sheriff-Coroner.
The coroner is responsible for the person, not the property. Once investigators release the scene, the home becomes the responsibility of the family, the executor or the property owner.
The coroner does not deliver remains to private homes, so the family chooses a licensed funeral home or cremation provider, which collects the person from the home, the hospital or the coroner. The funeral home usually files the death certificate and can order certified copies for you.
Neither the coroner nor the funeral home cleans the home. If there are body fluids or the death went undiscovered, the cleanup must be done by a company registered with the California Department of Public Health as a Trauma Scene Waste Management Practitioner. Remedy Restoration is registered (TSW #711) and responds 24/7. See unattended death cleanup and death and suicide cleanup.
Many homeowner policies cover this cleanup, and for a rental it is usually the owner’s policy. Read our guide to insurance and victim compensation for cleanup.
You will need certified copies to close accounts, claim life insurance and settle the estate. Most families order several. In Monterey County, the Health Department’s Vital Records office in Salinas issues death certificates for the current year and the year before; older records come from the County Recorder. Your funeral home can usually order them for you.
You do not have to do everything in the first week. Hand off what you can, including the cleanup. If you need support, ask your doctor or hospice team about local grief resources.
Not the coroner or the funeral home. The family, executor or property owner arranges it, usually with a CDPH-registered trauma scene cleanup company.
No. If you call 911 for an unexpected death, police and paramedics contact the coroner. For an expected hospice death, the hospice nurse handles it.
You can usually return once investigators release the scene. If fluids or odor are present, keep the affected room closed until it has been professionally cleaned.
Need help with cleanup? Call Remedy Restoration at 831-216-8283, 24/7, across Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties.
