Peoples Law School Publication "A Death in Your Family"

I have come across a good booklet from the Peoples Law School of British Columbia called "A Death in Your Family: Practical Considerations on the Death of a Loved One." There are also Chinese and Punjabi language versions of this booklet. It covers some very basic things you may need to do soon after a family member has died. The contents are as follows:

1. What to Do First .................................2
What are the Immediate Details Around
a Death? ..................................................... 2
What is a Medical Certificate of Death? ....... 4
When Might a Coroner be Involved? ........... 4
What Information Does the Funeral
Home Need Right Away? .......................... 6
What is Involved in the Death
Registration? ............................................. 6
What Do I Need to Know about Death
Certificates? ............................................... 6
How Can I Get Information about the
Cause of Death? ........................................ 7
What is a Disposition Permit? ...................... 7
Whom Do I Need to Notify of the Death? ... 7
What if the Loved One Wished to Donate
Organs and Tissue? ................................... 8
2. Making the Funeral Arrangements ..9
What if I Need More Information or Have
a Complaint? ........................................... 11
3. What to Do about Your Loved
One’s Daily Affairs ............................12
What Do I Need to Know about Benefits
for Survivors? .......................................... 13
What Do I Need to Know about
Re-Arranging My Own Legal Affairs? .... 14
4. Where to Find Support During
Bereavement ......................................14
5. Resources ...........................................16
Information about Legal and Medical
Matters .................................................... 16
Information about Benefits ......................... 17
Information about Burial and Cremation .. 19

My one complaint is that in the "Information about Legal and Medical Matters" section there is contact information for do-it-yourself probate kits and notaries public, but there is no contact information for resources for finding lawyers. I am not a big fan of do-it-yourself probate kits, mainly because people who use them instead of lawyers are not getting the legal advice often required to protect the estate and do a good job. In British Columbia, you can go to a notary public to swear an affidavit in support of your probate application, but notaries public are not otherwise authorized to handle the legal work on probate matters or give legal advice on estates.

You can get contact information on lawyers who practice wills and estate law through the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch, Lawyer Referral Service.