Alaska editionIn your inbox within a minute30-day money-back promise
The End of Life Plannerby Valoren

General information · not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

Free · general informationAlaska

What to do when someone dies in Alaska

The first things Alaska’s own law asks for after a death, quoted word for word, then the pages for everything that follows, in the order it usually comes. Nothing here decides what a particular family must do. That belongs to the office named, the court, or an attorney in Alaska.

  • Every fact dated, in the official words
  • Each state’s own law

Every quotation checked October 24, 2026

Your planner for Alaska is ready. US$39 once, printed at home.

Order the planner · US$39

The free first-week checklist

Pages taken from the planner, by email: who to phone first, and a blank records sheet.

We use your email address to send the checklist and those emails, and for nothing else. We do not sell it. We first send one email asking you to confirm your address. Privacy notice

Every quotation on this page is the official body’s own words, as they stood on the day we read them. The date is beside each one.

Filing the death certificate: who files it, how soon, and the medical certification

Registering the death comes first. These are Alaska’s own words on who files the record, and how soon.

A death certificate for each death that occurs in the state shall be filed with the local registrar of the registration district in which the death occurred within three days after death and before final disposition of the body or removal of the body from the state

The funeral director or person acting as the funeral director who first assumes custody of a dead body shall file the death certificate.

The medical certification shall be completed and signed within 24 hours after death

Alaska · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · AS 18.50.230(a)–(c)

What the person holding the will must do, and the liability for not doing it

The will has its own rules. These are Alaska’s own words on who brings it to the court after a death, and what the court does with it.

After the death of a testator and on request of an interested person, a person having custody of a will of the testator shall deliver it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate and, if the person with custody does not know of a person able to secure the will's probate, to an appropriate court.

A person who wilfully fails to deliver a will is liable to a person aggrieved for any damages that may be sustained by the failure.

Alaska · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · AS 13.12.516

Depositing a will with a court for safekeeping, and keeping it confidential during life

A will may be deposited by the testator or the testator's agent with a court for safekeeping, under rules of the court. During the testator's lifetime, the will must be kept confidential.

Alaska · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · AS 13.12.515

The first weeks

The estate: probate in Alaska, its route for a smaller estate, what falls to whoever is settling it, and the accounts that pass outside the will.

The same page for other states

Friends sharing breakfast at a sunny patio table among citrus trees
Friends on a desert patio at sunset, with a saguaro in the distance
A family roasting marshmallows round a backyard fire pit at night
FAQ

Common questions

A death certificate for each death that occurs in the state shall be filed with the local registrar of the registration district in which the death occurred within three days after death and before final disposition of the body or removal of the body from the state

The funeral director or person acting as the funeral director who first assumes custody of a dead body shall file the death certificate.

The medical certification shall be completed and signed within 24 hours after death

Alaska · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · AS 18.50.230(a)–(c)

After the death of a testator and on request of an interested person, a person having custody of a will of the testator shall deliver it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate and, if the person with custody does not know of a person able to secure the will's probate, to an appropriate court.

A person who wilfully fails to deliver a will is liable to a person aggrieved for any damages that may be sustained by the failure.

Alaska · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · AS 13.12.516

A will may be deposited by the testator or the testator's agent with a court for safekeeping, under rules of the court. During the testator's lifetime, the will must be kept confidential.

Alaska · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · AS 13.12.515

For anyone who would rather their family found it all in one place than went looking.

A couple. A parent. An adult child and a parent, doing it together. One sitting starts it; keep it current, and tell someone where it is.

A man on the telephone with the planner's pages open on the table