Guide
After a death at home: the steps in Los Angeles County
These are the usual steps after an unexpected death at home in Lancaster, Palmdale or the unincorporated communities around them. Rosamond, in Kern County, is noted where it differs.
In order
Call 911
Deputies and paramedics come first. If the person was in hospice care and the death was expected, the hospice team will tell you who to call.
The investigation
Deputies from the Lancaster or Palmdale station decide whether the medical examiner must be called. If so, a medical examiner investigator comes to the home.
The person is taken into care
The Department of Medical Examiner takes the person to its facility at 1104 N. Mission Road in Los Angeles, (323) 343-0714. In the usual case nobody has to go there to identify them.
Choose a funeral home
The family picks the funeral home and tells them the medical examiner has the case. The funeral home arranges the release, which the office says generally takes two to three days (medical examiner, for families).
The home
If the room or home was sealed, the seal says who can let you in. When it is released, decide who will arrange the cleanup: the owner, the family or the landlord.
The cleanup
Call when you are ready. The company will want to know which rooms, what flooring, and whether the home is owned or rented.
Practical details
Seals on the door
A blue seal is the medical examiner's: call (323) 343-0755 for permission to enter. A white seal means the county's Public Administrator is handling the person's affairs until next of kin come forward: (213) 974-0460 (source).
Personal belongings
Belongings the medical examiner took can be claimed by the legal next of kin. Call its Personal Property Section at (323) 343-0515 before you go, to ask what to bring.
Death certificates
The medical examiner does not issue them. Order copies through the funeral home, or from the county Public Health department in the first year. Insurers and banks will each want one.
In Rosamond
Kern County's Sheriff is also its coroner, so deputies and the coroner's staff come from the same office. Non-emergency: (661) 861-3110 (Kern County Sheriff).
About the cleanup
Neither the deputies nor the medical examiner clean. The medical examiner tells families and landlords to hire a cleanup company registered with the state as a trauma scene practitioner. Checking a company explains how to confirm that.
Read next
- Unattended death cleanupWhen someone died alone and was found days or weeks later.
- Who pays for the cleanupHomeowner and renter insurance, landlords, estates and California's victim compensation program.
- For landlords and property managersSeals on the door, the tenant's belongings, and when a death must be disclosed.
Ready when you are
There is no need to call before the home or car has been released. When it has, one call puts you in touch with an independent cleanup company that works in the Antelope Valley.
Phone answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Calls may be recorded. Referral disclosure and privacy policy.