Quick Answer: After a suicide, call 911 immediately if you haven’t. Law enforcement and a medical examiner will respond — do not disturb the scene. Once the scene is released, professional biohazard cleanup is required in most cases. The days ahead involve practical steps (insurance, estate, property) and emotional ones (grief, family conversations, getting support). This guide covers both — from someone who has been in those homes.
There is no loss quite like this one.
I’ve been in homes after suicides more times than I can count. I’ve seen families navigating something that combines grief with practical demands that don’t stop for anyone — and doing it mostly alone, without a guide. This is that guide.
Immediate Steps
Call 911 if you haven’t. Even if the death is obvious, law enforcement must be notified. A medical examiner will be sent to determine cause of death — this is required by law and is also necessary for life insurance claims and death certificate processing.
Do not clean anything. This is important for two reasons: it’s a potential crime scene until cleared, and the cleanup requires professional biohazard remediation. Well-meaning attempts to clean can cause exposure to dangerous biological material and may void insurance coverage for professional cleanup.
Who comes:
- Law enforcement (first)
- Medical examiner or coroner (to certify death)
- Possibly detectives (standard for any unattended or sudden death)
After the scene is cleared: Get written documentation from law enforcement that the scene has been released. You’ll need this for insurance and for scheduling professional cleanup.
Biohazard Cleanup: What to Expect
Depending on the circumstances, the scene may require professional biohazard remediation. This is not a job for family members, regular cleaners, or volunteer help — it involves biological materials that require specialized training, PPE, and regulated disposal.
What a professional remediation company does:
- Removes all biological material safely
- Disinfects to pathogen-free standards
- Remediates affected surfaces, flooring, and structural materials as needed
- Deodorizes the space
- Handles all bio-waste disposal in compliance with regulations
Does insurance cover this? Usually yes. Homeowners insurance typically covers biohazard remediation after a death in the home. Call your insurance company before hiring a cleanup company. Give them the claim number before work begins.
Choosing a company: This industry has predatory operators who target families in crisis. See our guide on How to Find a Legitimate Cleanup Company. In brief: look for IICRC certification, licensing, insurance, and written estimates. Never pay cash or sign under pressure.
Connect with a vetted biohazard cleanup company in your area →
The Practical Steps (That Still Have to Happen)
Grief doesn’t pause the bureaucracy. Here’s what needs to happen and roughly when.
Within the first 48 hours:
- Notify immediate family who don’t yet know
- Secure the property if the person lived alone
- Contact their employer if applicable
- Do not post on social media until immediate family is notified
Within the first week:
- Obtain the death certificate (your funeral home will assist, or the medical examiner’s office)
- Notify life insurance companies (suicide exclusion periods matter — see below)
- Contact an estate attorney if there’s significant property or assets
Within the first month:
- Begin the probate or estate process
- Cancel or transfer utilities, subscriptions, accounts
- Address any outstanding debts through the estate
Life Insurance and Suicide: What You Need to Know
Many families don’t know about the suicide exclusion clause — and find out at the worst possible time.
Most life insurance policies include a contestability period — typically 2 years from when the policy was issued. If a suicide occurs within this window, the insurer may deny the death benefit.
After the contestability period: Most policies pay the full death benefit for suicide, the same as any other cause of death.
What to do:
- Locate the policy documents immediately
- Note the issue date and the contestability period
- File the claim as soon as you have the death certificate
- If the claim is denied within the contestability period, consult an insurance attorney — there are sometimes grounds to challenge the denial
Don’t assume a denial is final. Insurance attorneys work on contingency for these cases and can sometimes recover benefits that initially seemed excluded.
What to Tell Your Children
This is the question I hear most from families in the aftermath. There is no perfect answer, but there are better and worse approaches.
What the research says:
- Children need honest, age-appropriate information
- Vague explanations (“they went away,” “they’re in a better place”) cause more anxiety and confusion than simple truth
- Children are resilient when given truth, support, and permission to feel whatever they feel
- Avoiding the topic does not protect children — it isolates them
For young children (under 7): Use simple, direct language. “Daddy died. He was very, very sad inside — a kind of sadness that was too big for him to carry. He didn’t want to leave you. It is not your fault.” Repeat as needed — children process in cycles.
For older children and teenagers: Be honest about what happened. Teenagers especially need to know the truth — they will find out anyway, and finding out from peers or social media is far more damaging than hearing it from family. “Your [parent/sibling/person] died by suicide. That means they took their own life. It is not your fault, and it is not something you could have prevented.”
What all children need to hear:
- It was not their fault
- It is okay to feel angry, sad, confused, or nothing at all
- The adults around them are still there and still safe
- Talking about it is allowed — there are no forbidden feelings
When to get professional support: Children who witnessed the death, discovered the body, or had a very close relationship with the person who died should be connected with a trauma-informed therapist. This is not optional — this is one of the highest risk factors for complicated grief and long-term trauma in children.
Find a trauma-informed grief therapist for children or adults →
Your Own Grief: What Nobody Tells You
Suicide grief is different. Not harder or easier — different. There are layers that other losses don’t have.
What’s normal:
- Anger — at the person, at yourself, at everyone around you
- Relief — and guilt about feeling relief
- Searching for answers you may never find
- Replaying conversations, looking for signs you missed
- Feeling ashamed of how they died, or like you have to explain it to people
- Numbness that lasts longer than it “should”
What you should know:
- You are not responsible. Whatever was happening inside this person, you did not cause it and could not have stopped it.
- “Why” is a question grief asks but rarely answers. Most people who survive suicide attempts say the decision felt overwhelming and certain in that moment — and that it passed. The people we lose don’t always leave notes, and notes rarely explain enough.
- Suicide loss survivors (people who have lost someone to suicide) have higher rates of PTSD, depression, and complicated grief. This is not weakness — it is the predictable impact of a traumatic loss. Professional support is not indulgent; it’s appropriate.
Finding your people: Suicide loss support groups exist in most areas and online. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) runs survivor support programs. There is something uniquely healing about being with other people who know this specific grief.
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 (free, 24/7) AFSP Survivor Support: afsp.org/find-support
Connect with a grief therapist who specializes in suicide loss →
Property and Space: What Happens Next
One practical question families wrestle with: what to do with the property or room where it happened.
There is no “right” timeline. Some families need the space restored quickly. Others need more time before they can even go in the room. Both are valid.
Stigmatized property disclosure: In most states, sellers are required to disclose a death in the home within a certain time period (varies by state). Consult a real estate attorney or agent in your state before selling. Some families choose to sell quickly; others choose to keep the home. Neither choice is wrong.
If you need to sell quickly: We can connect you with real estate professionals who specialize in sensitive property situations. No pressure, no judgment — just practical options.
Get options for selling the property →
This guide is written from direct experience working with families after traumatic events. It is not a substitute for professional mental health, legal, or financial advice. If you are in immediate crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline).