General Information, Not Professional Advice
The content on End of Life Tools is provided for general informational purposes only. It is not medical, legal, financial, or tax advice.
End-of-life decisions are personal and vary by state and family situation, and the rules can change. Always consult a licensed attorney for legal questions, a qualified healthcare provider for medical decisions, and a financial professional for money matters. We are not licensed attorneys, financial advisors, or funeral directors, and nothing here is a substitute for personalized professional advice.
Our approach
Who We Are and How We Work
End of Life Tools is run by a small U.S.-based team. We are writers and researchers, not a newsroom and not a panel of credentialed professionals. We publish under one name — the End of Life Tools Editorial Team — rather than inventing individual bylines or titles we do not have.
Our work is straightforward: we pick a topic that people actually search for when someone is dying or has died, we read the primary public sources, and we explain what we found in plain language. We link to those sources so you are never asked to simply trust us.
We cover "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) subjects where getting it wrong has real consequences, so we try to be careful, modest, and clear about what we do and do not know.
In practice
Our Working Principles
Primary U.S. Sources
We research each topic from primary public sources, such as the FTC, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the IRS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the National Funeral Directors Association, and state agencies.
We Cite What We Use
When a guide states a figure, a rule, or a legal requirement, we link to the public source so you can read it yourself and confirm it for your situation.
Plain-Language Writing
We write in clear, plain language so that someone dealing with a death or planning ahead can understand the steps without wading through jargon.
We Update When Things Change
Costs, benefit amounts, and rules change. When we learn a figure or law has changed, we review the affected guides and update them, and we change the "last updated" date when we do.
Ads Do Not Decide Content
Advertising on this site is served automatically by Google and is separate from what we choose to write about. Advertisers do not review or approve our guides.
Honest About Limits
This is general information, not professional advice. We are not licensed attorneys, financial advisors, or funeral directors, and we say so plainly throughout the site.
The process
How a Guide Is Made
- 1
Research from primary sources
We start with the relevant U.S. public sources for the topic — the agency, program, or published survey that actually governs it — and gather the current figures and rules.
- 2
Write in plain language
We draft the guide to be readable for someone under stress, citing the source for each figure or requirement and noting when something varies by state.
- 3
Review for accuracy and clarity
Before publishing, we re-read the draft against its cited sources, check that the links work and point to the right page, and remove anything we cannot support.
- 4
Update when laws or figures change
When we learn that a cost, benefit amount, or rule has changed, we revisit the affected guides and update them, and we change the "last updated" date so you can see how current the page is.
Where it comes from
Sources We Rely On
We prefer primary U.S. public sources. The examples below are the kinds of sources our guides draw from.
U.S. Government Agencies
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — the Funeral Rule and consumer protection
- Social Security Administration (SSA.gov) — survivor and death benefits
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) — veteran burial benefits
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — estate and tax basics
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
- State funeral, cemetery, and probate agencies
Industry and Public Reference
- National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) — published cost surveys
- State funeral service licensing boards
- State court self-help and probate resources
- Official program pages for benefits and eligibility
Accountability
Corrections
We will get things wrong sometimes, and we want to fix them. If you spot a factual error, an outdated figure, or a broken citation, please tell us and we will look into it.
When we confirm an error that affects the meaning of a guide, we correct the content and note that a correction was made. We do not promise a specific response time, but we do read every correction email and we take accuracy on these topics seriously.
Typos and small formatting fixes are corrected quietly. Substantive factual corrections are noted on the affected guide.
Help us improve
Report an Error
Found a factual error, outdated information, or a broken citation? Email us and we will review it. Your feedback makes these guides more accurate for the next reader.