First Steps

First Steps

When a loved one dies, it can be overwhelming to navigate decisions on top of grief. Anything you can do ahead of time will be helpful. Ideally, you will have already talked with your loved one about their wishes and spoken to a funeral home about options and costs. You can also give the funeral home all vital statistics information, as well as any cemetery arrangements and/or insurance information.

Sometimes that pre-planning step has not happened. That’s okay. We are here to help. You can find a tab on this website with the vital statistics information we’ll need, but below is what you typically need to do immediately after death.

If your loved one is at a HOSPITAL or nursing facility, let the chaplain or nurse know to contact Jeter & Son (specify whether you want to use our Dallas 214-330-4700 or Cedar Hill 972-291-4500 location). Once the hospital calls us, we will be able to bring your loved one into our care. Please give us a call to set up a time to come in to make further arrangements. If you have not contacted us, we will call you to find out if permission is given to embalm and to set up an appointment.

If your loved one is on HOSPICE, hospice will be your first call. A hospice nurse will be sent to pronounce and will work with the doctor and/or medical examiner. You likely gave our contact information when you signed up for hospice, but double-check. The nurse will call us once your loved one has been released. Please give us a call to set up a time to come in to make further arrangements. If you have not contacted us, we will call you to find out if permission is given to embalm and to set up an appointment.

If your loved one dies and is not in hospice or at an attended facility, call 911. An officer will be dispatched and will get in touch with the medical examiner. A determination will be made to either release to us OR take your loved one to the medical examiner. We cannot bring anyone into our care until they have been released by the medical examiner. Please give us a call to set up a time to come in to make further arrangements.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are here to help you in any way we can. We understand this is a very difficult time and feel it is our job to make things easier for you and your family.