Resources for Houston families after a death

If someone is in crisis right now

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988, 24/7, free, in English and Spanish. 988lifeline.org
• The Harris Center — Harris County's mental health authority, with a 24/7 crisis line. theharriscenter.org

Understanding the death investigation

Every unattended death in Harris County goes through the county's medical examiner before the property returns to the family's control. We wrote a plain-English guide to what the Harris County medical examiner actually does, including the scene release, death certificates, and how the process differs in Montgomery, Fort Bend, Galveston, and Brazoria counties.

Who is responsible, and who pays

• Who is legally responsible for cleanup after a death in a Texas home
• Does homeowners insurance cover biohazard cleanup in Texas?
• What unattended death cleanup costs in Houston
• Texas Crime Victims' Compensation — for deaths caused by violent crime, the state reimburses cleanup costs up to $2,250 plus other victim expenses. texasattorneygeneral.gov/crime-victims
• County victim assistance — the Harris County District Attorney's Victim Witness Division and the Montgomery County DA's victim assistance office help families apply for compensation and navigate the process after a crime.

Grief support in the Houston area

• Bo's Place — free grief support for children, adults, and families who have lost someone, in English and Spanish. bosplace.org
• Hospice and faith communities — most Houston hospice organizations run grief groups open to the public regardless of whether your family used their care.

Hoarding: help for the person, not just the property

Hoarding is a recognized disorder, and lasting outcomes involve more than a cleanout. Alongside the practical cleanup side, families can look to mental health providers who treat hoarding disorder through The Harris Center, and to professional organizers experienced in gradual, consent-based approaches. We work at the resident's pace on every hoarding job, and we can coordinate with whoever the family brings in.

En español

Nuestra guía en español explica todo el proceso después de una muerte no atendida: la investigación del médico forense, quién es responsable de la limpieza, y cómo el seguro de vivienda generalmente cubre el costo. La línea 988 también atiende en español, las 24 horas.

Funeral homes and probate attorneys

Families often ask us to recommend a funeral home or a probate attorney. We maintain working relationships across the Houston death-care and estate community and are glad to point you to someone suited to your situation — call and ask. This section grows as those relationships do.

The part we handle

When the scene releases, the biological cleanup is ours: unattended death, trauma and suicide scenes, crime scenes, and hoarding, across the Houston metro, 24 hours a day, billed directly to insurance in most cases. One call, and you can hand that part off entirely.