What to Do When a Parent Dies Out of State: A Step-by-Step Guide for Snowbird Families

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Updated October 2026 · By Sara Marsden-Ille

The phone call comes from a number you don’t recognize, in a state you don’t live in. Your mother or father has died while wintering in Florida, visiting friends in Arizona, or on the road in their RV, and suddenly you’re the person everyone is waiting on for decisions.

If that’s where you are right now, we’re truly sorry. Take a breath. Very little needs to be decided in the first hour, and nothing needs to be signed today. This guide walks you through what to do, step by step, when a parent dies out of state, and how to avoid the costly mistakes families most often make under pressure.

If you’re reading this ahead of time because your parents are about to head south for the winter, the last section is for you.

The short version: 8 steps

Confirm who has your parent in their care right now (hospital, hospice, medical examiner).
Check whether your parent had a travel protection plan or pre-paid funeral plan, and call that number first.
Don’t sign with the first local funeral home that calls. Call the funeral home back home first.
Decide: bring your parent home, or have the cremation done where the death occurred.
Gather the information needed for the death certificate.
Ask for itemized prices in writing; it’s your right under federal law.
Order enough certified death certificates from the state where the death occurred.
Back home: notify Social Security, pensions and banks, and deal with the winter residence.

Step 1: The first few hours — who to call

What happens first depends on where and how your parent died:

In a hospital or care facility: staff will confirm the death and look after your parent while you make arrangements. They will usually ask which funeral home to release your parent to. It’s fine to say, “I’m arranging that now and will call you back.”
Under hospice care: the hospice nurse confirms the death and helps with the next steps.
Unexpectedly, at a rental, RV park, or elsewhere: whoever finds your parent calls 911. Police and often the county medical examiner or coroner will be involved. Your parent won’t be released to a funeral home until the medical examiner says so, which can take a day or more. It is routine and not a cause for alarm.

Write down the name and phone number of the person you spoke to, the facility or medical examiner’s office, and any case number. You’ll need them again.

Step 2: Check for a plan before you call anyone else

Before you agree to anything locally, look through your parent’s paperwork, wallet, and phone, or ask a sibling, for any of these:

A travel protection plan or repatriation membership card (for example, the DFS Travel Protection Plan)
A pre-need or pre-paid funeral contract with a funeral home back home
A travel insurance policy covering the trip, which may include a repatriation benefit
Written funeral wishes, such as burial or cremation, and where

If there is a plan, call its 24/7 number first. A repatriation plan coordinates the whole process: the local funeral home, the paperwork, and the transport home. That one phone call can save your family thousands of dollars and days of logistics. If you sign with a local provider first, you can end up paying for services the plan would have covered.

Step 3: Don’t sign with the first funeral home that calls

When a death happens away from home, two funeral homes are usually involved:

A sending (or forwarding) funeral home near where your parent died. It collects your parent, prepares them for travel, and completes the local paperwork.
A receiving funeral home in your parent’s home town. It collects your parent from the airport and handles the funeral, burial, or cremation there.

The most common, and most expensive, mistake is letting the local funeral home in the winter town arrange everything, including the funeral, and then paying a second funeral home back home to do it again.

A better approach: call the funeral home you’d want to use back home first. Tell them where your parent is. Most can arrange the local collection and transport through their own network or a specialist mortuary shipper, so you deal with one provider rather than two.

Know your rights: the FTC Funeral Rule

Under the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule, every funeral home in the U.S. must:

Give you prices over the phone if you ask
Give you an itemized General Price List when you discuss arrangements in person
Let you choose only the goods and services you want, rather than a package
Accept a casket or urn you bought elsewhere, without charging a handling fee

Ask both funeral homes for their prices in writing before you commit. Read more in our sister site’s guide to the FTC Funeral Rule and your consumer rights.

Step 4: Decide — bring them home, or cremate locally?

This is the biggest decision you’ll make, and it drives both the cost and the timeline. Let your parent’s wishes guide you if you know them.

Option	What happens	Typical cost (U.S.)	Best when
Bring your parent home for burial or a viewing	Sending funeral home prepares your parent, who travels by air cargo or ground transport to a receiving funeral home	$3,000–$10,000+ all-in	Your family wants a traditional funeral or burial at home
Cremation where the death occurred	Local cremation; the ashes are carried home by a family member or shipped	Usually far less than shipping a body	Your parent wanted cremation, or the distance is long
Local funeral and burial	Everything happens in the winter town	Varies by provider	Your parent had strong ties there, or wished to be buried there

For a full breakdown by service and by route, see how much it costs to transport a body to another state.

If you choose cremation: bringing the ashes home

By plane: TSA allows cremated remains through security, but the container must be one that can be X-rayed, such as temporary plastic or wood. Officers won’t open the container, even if you ask. Many airlines prefer you carry the urn on board rather than check it, so check with your airline before you fly.
By mail: within the U.S., cremated remains can be shipped only by the U.S. Postal Service, using Priority Mail Express, with the correct packaging and label. The funeral home can do this for you. See our guide to mailing cremated remains with USPS.

Step 5: The paperwork

The funeral home handles most of the filing, but you’ll be asked for information, and it helps to know how it works when the death happens away from home.

The death certificate comes from the state where your parent died

If your parent lived in Ohio but died in Florida, Florida issues the death certificate. The funeral home will need:

Full legal name, date and place of birth
Social Security number
Permanent home address (their usual residence, not the winter address)
Marital status, and the spouse’s name
Parents’ names, including mother’s maiden name
Occupation and education
Military discharge papers (DD-214) for veterans, which may qualify them for burial benefits

Order enough certified copies at the start. Banks, insurers, pension providers, the DMV and title companies may each want one. Ordering more later from another state’s vital records office takes longer and is more hassle. Repatriation plans don’t usually include extra certified copies, so budget for them.

The burial-transit permit

Moving a body across state lines needs a burial-transit (or disposition) permit, issued by the state where the death occurred. The sending funeral home normally obtains it. If the medical examiner was involved, their release is also needed first.

Step 6: Getting your parent home — what actually happens

Collection: the sending funeral home brings your parent into its care from the hospital, medical examiner or residence.
Preparation: your parent is prepared for travel, typically with embalming or refrigeration, and placed in an air tray or shipping container that meets airline requirements. Embalming isn’t always required. If your family’s faith or a natural (green) burial means it should be avoided, say so at the very start. Refrigeration and a sealed container can usually be used instead, though airline and state rules still apply.
Transport: airlines carry human remains as special cargo, booked by the funeral home or a specialist shipper. Families can’t book this directly. For shorter distances, ground transport by hearse or mortuary van may be used.
Receiving: the receiving funeral home collects your parent from the airport and takes over the funeral, burial or cremation arrangements.

It usually takes 10 to 21 days from the death to your parent arriving home, depending on whether the transfer is domestic or international. Delays most often come from the medical examiner, the death certificate being issued, weekends and holidays, or flight availability.

Step 7: What it costs, and who pays

Service	Typical cost range
Local removal and transfer	$300–$1,000
Preparation and shipping container	$800–$2,500
Airline cargo transport	$1,000–$4,000+
Receiving funeral home services	$600–$1,500
Total to bring a parent home within the U.S.	$3,000–$10,000+
International repatriation	$7,000–$25,000+

Who pays? Usually the family, upfront, and later reimbursed from the estate where possible. Funeral homes generally expect payment, or an assignment from life insurance, before they release your parent for transport.

Medicare doesn’t pay for funeral or mortuary transport costs.
Travel insurance may pay a repatriation benefit, but only if the death happened during an insured trip, and only up to the policy limit.
Life insurance pays the beneficiary, but claims take time, so it rarely helps with costs in the first week.

Step 8: Back home — the administration

Once your parent is home, there’s a practical list to work through over the following weeks:

Social Security: in most cases, the funeral director reports the death to Social Security for you. Benefits aren’t payable for the month of death, so any payment received for that month will need to be returned.
Pensions, banks and credit cards: notify each one, with a certified death certificate.
The will and probate: probate generally takes place in the state where your parent was legally domiciled, which is usually their home state. If they owned property in their winter state, such as a Florida condo, a second, ancillary probate there may be needed. An estate attorney can advise.
The winter residence: the rental or HOA, utilities, mail forwarding, and any car or RV left behind.

If your parents are snowbirds: what to put in place now

Nobody enjoys this conversation, but having it before your parents head south makes everything above far easier. Here’s a short checklist to go through together:

Wishes: burial or cremation, and where.
Documents: where the will, healthcare proxy, insurance policies and DD-214 are kept, and copies of the key ones in the winter home.
Contacts: the winter address, a local friend or neighbor, and their preferred funeral home back home.
Medicare: check during Open Enrollment (October 15 – December 7) that their plan covers care where they winter.
A plan to get them home, so you never have to make the calls in Steps 3 to 7 on your own.

About the Death Away From Home DFS Travel Protection Plan

The DFS Travel Protection Plan by DFS Memorials is a one-time, lifetime membership that brings your parent home if they die more than 75 miles from their permanent U.S. residence. Repatriation is fulfilled by Inman Shipping Worldwide, mortuary repatriation specialists since 1978.

$450 per person or $875 per couple, paid once, with no renewals
Guaranteed acceptance regardless of health, with no medical exam and no exclusions for pre-existing conditions
One 24/7 number, with bilingual coordination specialists
No bill to the family for the included basic repatriation services (extras such as additional death certificates, a viewing or a service where the death occurred are not included)
Covers travel on any day of the year, and snowbird stays of up to 180 days a year away from home
Choice of transport home or a direct cremation where the death occurred, with the ashes shipped directly to the family. The burial or cremation choice can be changed at any time, and the next of kin can confirm it with the team after a death.
No embalming required where faith or a natural burial calls for it, at no extra cost
30-day full refund if you change your mind after enrolling

Adult children can enroll a parent. It’s a practical, affordable gift that means one phone call instead of everything above.

ENROLL A PARENT NOW

Frequently asked questions

Who is responsible for bringing a body home from another state?

The next of kin, usually a spouse or adult child, has the right to make the arrangements and normally pays upfront. The funeral homes do the practical work. A repatriation plan, if your parent had one, coordinates and pays for the included services.

How long does it take to bring a body home from another state?

Usually 10 to 21 days, depending on whether the transfer is domestic or international. It can take longer if the medical examiner is involved or the death certificate is delayed.

Can I drive my parent’s body home myself?

Some states allow family members to transport a body with the right permits, but rules vary by state, and it’s rarely practical over long distances. Airlines accept human remains only from a funeral home or approved shipper. Check with the vital records office in the state where your parent died.

Which state issues the death certificate?

The state where the death occurred, not your parent’s home state. Order certified copies from that state’s vital records office, usually through the funeral home.

Is it cheaper to cremate a parent where they died?

Usually, yes. Shipping cremated remains costs far less than shipping a body, and a family member can often carry them home on a flight. If your family wants a viewing or a traditional burial back home, though, your parent will need to travel before cremation.

Losing a parent is hard enough without the distance. Go one step at a time, ask for prices in writing, and lean on the professionals; this is what they do every day. And if your parents are still planning their next winter away, a few minutes now can spare you all of it later.