a note from the creator

Why I built Death Dibs

I've spent the last decade as a Medicolegal Death Investigator, the person responsible for documenting the circumstances of unexpected deaths. While performing my duties I've stood in a lot of living rooms with families who were suddenly tasked with making urgent decisions, arguing about things nobody had ever written down: who's paying for the funeral, whether Dad wanted to be buried or cremated, what funeral home to use…

All too often I've witnessed people stress over these important decisions, frantically searching for documents in a cluttered desk, unable to reach the one person in the middle of the night who was supposed to be in charge of everything, all while they should be grieving with their loved ones. Prior planning could have avoided the chaos and kept everyone on the same page during those first few critical hours.

Then, in the days and weeks following someone's death, there are inevitably conflicts surrounding heirlooms. The grieving period is not the time to be arguing over who gets what. Like making funeral arrangements, those conversations are so much easier to have while everyone's still sitting around the table, not standing over a casket. These conflicts are something I have experienced both personally and professionally. I urge all of my family and friends to have these difficult discussions ahead of time, and I hope this app can help your family be prepared for the inevitable, too.

— BRANDON MAILAND, D-ABMDI