Skip to content

Guide

After a death at home: what happens next

If you have just found someone, you do not need to know all of this now. Call 911 first. The rest can be read later.

The usual order of events

  1. Call 911

    If death was not expected or you are not sure, call 911. Do not move the person.

  2. Police respond

    Under C.R.S. 30-10-606, the responding officers notify the coroner once the scene is safe.

  3. The coroner decides

    Whether the death needs investigation, and when the person can go to a funeral home.

  4. Release

    Once the coroner and police have what they need, the home is released.

  5. Cleanup

    Only then can a cleanup company begin.

Who investigates

The office that will handle it

Arapahoe County: Aurora, Centennial, Englewood

The Arapahoe County Coroner is elected and investigates deaths and issues death certificates. The office is at 13101 E. Broncos Parkway in Centennial, 720-874-3625. Not every death has to be reported to the coroner; police or the hospice nurse will know when it does.

Adams County: Aurora, Commerce City

Deaths in Adams County go to the Office of the Coroner for Adams and Broomfield Counties, 330 N. 19th Ave in Brighton, 303-659-1027. The office says it is open weekdays 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and, during construction, sees the public by appointment only, so call first.

Douglas County: Aurora, Parker

The Douglas County Coroner's Office can be called at any hour to a death that is unexpected, unattended, violent, sudden or suspicious. Its staff make death notifications to families in person.

Denver

The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner is at 500 Quivas St., 720-337-7600. Its Family Advocate Support Team offers grief support and resources at 720-337-7607.

An expected death under hospice care

When someone dies at home under hospice care, the hospice nurse usually guides the family through the next steps, and not every such death has to be reported to the coroner.

The Arapahoe County Coroner notes that not every death in the county has to be reported to its office. Follow the hospice team's instructions.

When the home needs cleaning

Colorado law lets the coroner, in a noncriminal case, take steps to secure the property and charge those costs to the estate (C.R.S. 30-10-606(2.5)). Cleaning is a separate matter left to the family, the owner or the landlord.

If the death went unnoticed for some time, read about unattended death cleanup. If it followed a crime, read about crime scene cleanup.

A woman sitting at a kitchen table on the phone, a cup and a notepad in front of her

Whenever you are ready

You can call now, or after the hardest days are behind you

There is no deadline on a phone call. Until then, keep the door to the affected room shut, keep children and pets out, and leave the cleaning to people with protective gear.

Speak with a cleanup company

The call reaches an independent company that works in your ZIP code. Describe the room, ask how they would handle it and how they set the price. Nothing is decided until you agree to it.

Call (720) 712-9117

Answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Calls may be recorded by the call-routing service. See the referral disclosure and privacy policy.

Call (720) 712-9117