Communicate

Write a first-steps letter to a grieving family

Produces a short, warm letter a family can act on the week of a funeral: three things to do, one thing to hold off on, and what you are handling, with no legalese and no deadline the model invented.

About 8 minstarterEstates, Solo / small firm

Your prompt4,255 characters

Still to fill in: Who died and the family situation, Who I am writing to

RoleYou are an estates lawyer who has written this letter three hundred times and never sent the same one twice. You know it gets read once, standing up, in a kitchen covered in funeral paperwork. You write short, warm, concrete sentences, and you would rather leave four true things out than have someone put the page down halfway through.What I needA first-steps letter to Who I am writing to after the death described below. Under 250 words. Three things to do this week, one thing not to do yet, and what I am handling.InputsWho died and the family situation: Who died and the family situation Who I am writing to: Who I am writing to What is actually urgent here: What is actually urgent here What happens next on my end: What happens next on my end Signature and contact preferences: Signature and contact preferencesHow to work this1. Open with the person, not the process. Use the decedent's name and one sentence of condolence that could only have been written about this family. No sympathy that would fit any funeral. 2. Give exactly three actions drawn from What is actually urgent here: things an exhausted person can finish this week, each with one line of reason. Then name one thing to hold off on and say why in plain words: paying bills from the decedent's account, closing accounts, cancelling insurance, giving things away. Pick the one that would do the most damage here. 3. Say what I am doing and when they will hear from me, drawn from What happens next on my end. One sentence each. 4. Strip every legal word: no "decedent," "fiduciary," "letters testamentary," "probate estate," "intestate," "asset." If a term is unavoidable, explain it in the same sentence in under eight words. Then read the draft back and cut to 250 words; any sentence that sounds like a form letter gets rewritten or deleted.Close with these four sections, every time, without being askedAssumptions I made. What you assumed about the family, the reader's role, and what has already happened. Mark each [verify] or [safe]. Where this is weakest. The one or two sentences most likely to land wrong: too brisk, too familiar, or a promise I have to keep. Name the sentence. What only you can decide. Options with tradeoffs, not flags. At minimum: whether to name the hard thing now (a house that has to be sold, a sibling who is already asking questions). Saying it early builds trust and can feel brutal this week, while leaving it out keeps the letter kind and makes the next call harder. Also mine: whether this goes out today or after the funeral. What would make this materially better. What you would most want to know: who is actually going to serve, whether there is a will and where, what the reader said on the phone. Rank by impact.Output formatThe letter, ready to send, under 250 words. Then a two-line note to me listing what you deliberately left out and why. Then the four sections above.Never do this- If this letter would work for any family after any death, it is too generic. Their names, their house, their situation. - No hedging filler and no lawyer voice. Cut "please be advised," "at your earliest convenience," "it should be noted," "arguably," and "our deepest condolences during this difficult time." Do not tell them to consult an attorney. I am their attorney. - Never invent a deadline, a filing period, a form name, or the number of death certificates to order. Those vary by state and by institution. Use only the dates I gave you, or write "I will confirm the date and call you." Nothing goes in this letter that is not in my inputs or marked [UNVERIFIED] in your note to me. - Where you do not know something about this family, leave it out or ask me. Do not smooth over the gap with a warm sentence that says nothing. - Do not pad. Four short paragraphs is a complete letter. Length is not care.Before you answer- Is it under 250 words? - Are there exactly three actions, and can each be finished this week by someone who is not sleeping? - Did any legal term survive? - Could this letter have been sent to a different family? It should not.

Adds driver's-seat tunes: options instead of answers, questions before work, every citation flagged. Your values come with it.

Pressure-test it

Makes the AI switch hats and attack its own answer.

June, who buried Harold this week, will read this letter once, standing up, with the funeral paperwork still on the counter. Take the letter as the person who has to act on it this week: where does she stop reading? Which sentence makes her feel managed rather than helped? Which of the three tasks would she quietly not do because she does not know how to start? Rewrite those sentences, and if a task is one she cannot actually do alone, replace it with one she can.

Go deeper

Pushes the work further once the basics are right.

She will read this letter and then look around the house wondering what she is supposed to find. Write the one-page "what to bring" list that goes with it: plain names for each document, where people usually find it, and what to do if it does not exist, plus a short agenda for the call, in the order that will make her feel least behind.

Before you run it

What to gather first

Who died, when, and the family around them
Who you are writing to and whether they are already your client
What is physically urgent: an empty house, a vehicle, a pet, a business
Whether there is a will and who has it
What you are doing next and when you will call

Watch for

The number of death certificates to order, filing windows, and small-estate options are state- and institution-specific. Do not let the model supply any of them; give it the numbers or leave them out.
This letter sets expectations you have to meet. A promised call date is a commitment, and missing it costs more trust than the letter earns.
If the recipient is not yet your client, or is not the person who will actually be appointed, a warm first-steps letter can create the appearance of representation. Confirm the relationship before sending.
Warm and complete are in tension. A letter with nine tasks will not get acted on, no matter how kindly it is written.
Do not paste family details, health information, or account facts unless your firm's AI policy permits it.

What comes back

A letter under 250 words: a condolence opening specific to this family, exactly three actions with one-line reasons, one thing to hold off on with the reason, what the lawyer is doing and when they will call, and a plain sign-off. Then a two-line internal note on what was deliberately left out and why, and the four closing sections.

See an example of what you’ll get

Letter (218 words) Dear June, I was so sorry to hear about Harold. Eight months is a long time to hold everything together the way you did, and I hope this week you can let some of it go. There are only three things worth doing before we talk on Thursday. First, ask the funeral home for certified copies of the death certificate. They can order them for you, and it is much easier than doing it later. I will tell you Thursday how many you will actually need. Second, Harold's truck is still at Kessler's. Have Ryan pick it up and park it at the house this week so it is not sitting there collecting charges. Third, put everything that comes in the mail in one box. Bills, statements, letters from insurance companies. You do not have to open any of it. Just keep it together. One thing to hold off on: please stop paying Harold's credit cards from his checking account. It feels like the responsible thing, and I know it does, but those bills are the estate's problem now, not yours, and paying them can create complications we do not need. The mortgage on the 1st is fine; leave that alone. I am reading the 2019 will and starting the title work. I will call you Thursday afternoon. And if Harold's brother calls about the boat again, you can tell him to call me. Dana --- What I left out and why. The estate account, the executor's role, and what to do about Phoenix: all real, none of them this week's problem. Also left out the mortgage payoff question, which needs a conversation, not a paragraph. --- Assumptions I made. That June is the named executor and will accept [verify]. That Ryan is the local son [verify]. That the checking account is in Harold's sole name. If it is joint, the advice about the credit cards changes [verify]. That the boat is titled to Harold [verify]. Where this is weakest. "Those bills are the estate's problem now, not yours" is close to a legal conclusion and could be wrong if she is a joint account holder or a co-signer. And "I will call you Thursday afternoon" is a promise; miss it and the letter has cost you more than it bought. What only you can decide. Whether to name the boat now. The line about Harold's brother tells June she has cover and will probably be the sentence she is most grateful for, but it also signals that a family fight is coming, nine days after the funeral. Leaving it out keeps the letter gentle and means she handles the brother alone this weekend. Also yours: whether this goes out today or after the service. What would make this materially better. (1) Whether the checking account is joint: it changes the strongest paragraph in the letter. (2) Whether the 2019 will names June as executor. (3) What June actually said on the phone, so the opening line can be hers rather than mine.

Why this prompt is built the way it is

## Framework 1. **The person before the process.** One condolence sentence that could only have been written about this family. 2. **Three actions, no more, and one thing to hold off on.** Each action finishable this week by someone who is exhausted, each with a one-line reason. Then the single mistake that would do real damage here: paying bills from the decedent's account, closing accounts, cancelling insurance, giving things away. 3. **Say what you are doing and when you will call.** Certainty is the product. 4. **No legal vocabulary, no dates from memory, 250 words.** If a term is unavoidable, define it in the same sentence in under eight words. Death certificate counts and filing periods vary by state and by institution; use only what the lawyer supplied. Being read to the end is the goal, not completeness.