At the top of a dark gray background, white and green text reads, Funeral Fun Fact: Anything Can Be An Urn! Below, three skeleton hands hold out a vase, a wine bottle, and a mason jar. Throughout these images, spiky lime green bubbles feature black text that reads: Funeral homes must accept the container you want. You're not required to buy an urn from a funeral home. At the bottom, small white text reads deadparentswhatnow.com.

Well, *virtually* anything can be an urn. I can't vouch for every item you weirdos dream up...

#deathpositive #cremation #funeral #urn #grief #estateplanning #funfact

Grievers! Experience your own vicarious catharsis via Michael Cruz Kayne’s new comedy special “Sorry for Your Loss” on @dropout.tv!

#deathpositive #grief #comedy

The secular dying person does not need their fear reframed into something more palatable. They need someone who can sit inside the same unmediated reality they inhabit — and stay.

#DeathDoula #SecularDying #EndOfLifeCare #CompassionatePresence #DeathPositive

An old-fashioned library borrowing card sits in the center of a black background. On top, white and green typewriter text reads: Death doesn't always bring out the best in people... Family Feud! Grief sometimes has a way of making people behave badly—especially when money is on the line. Let’s talk strategies for navigating (and hopefully avoiding) family estrangement in the wake of a loss. Due Date: A Library Death Salon. Nook & Nowhere. April 23, 2026 at 7pm. Below is the logo for My Parents Are Dead: What Now? featuring a cartoon skull with heart eyes atop a lime green heptagon.

DUE DATE: A LIBRARY DEATH SALON returns to Nook & Nowhere on April 23! We're talking strategies for dealing with family estrangement in the wake of a loss. Come share your hard-earned wisdom with the group!

#deathpositive #louisville #grief #events

You can mask up all you want, but you can’t mask your 💀 parents trauma… #deathpositive #grief #estateplanning

On a white background, old-fashioned black and green text reads: AI ghosts can talk about things that occurred after the human they were based upon has died, and we have no way of knowing whether the real person would have agreed or disagreed with their AI ghost’s conclusions. The Columbarium. deadparentswhatnow.com/newsletter

In tomorrow's newsletter: Are you ready to be haunted by AI ghosts? Sign up to find out: deadparentswhatnow.com/newsletter

#newsletter #deathpositive #artificialintelligence #aighosts #grief #technology #estateplanning

An illustration of a ribcage is just visible above a black background. On top of that, green and white text reads: What can you do with a dead body in Indiana? Traditional burial (check); Green burial (check); Fire cremation (check); Water cremation (X); Human composting (X); deadparentswhatnow.com

Living in Indiana? Here are the legal methods of disposition in your state as of April 2026.

#deathpositive #deatheducation #funeral #burial #cremation #aquamation #humancomposting #greenburial #indiana

Green paint is brushed across a light gray background. On top, black text reads: You don't need a lawyer to make financial or healthcare power of attorney forms. deadparentswhatnow.com

Financial and healthcare POA forms are readily available online. Check your state statutes, hospital and state bar websites, etc. Or go to deadparentswhatnow.com/resources and scroll to the section for your state. I linked them all. It took me forever.

#deathpositive #estateplanning

💀 PARENTS AUDIOBOOK INCOMING!!!

#deathpositive #grief #books #audiobook

A green comic book bubble with orange words over it reads: POWER (of attorney) HOURS! Below, white text reads: April 2026. April 11, 12:30-2:30pm. April 16, 2-4pm. April 23, 2-4pm. April 25, 12:30-2:30pm. I'll bring the forms. You bring ID. $5-$10 suggested tip. MaybeItsFate. 1425 Story Ave. Louisville, KY. In the bottom left corner is the logo for My Parents Are Dead: What Now? featuring a cartoon skull with heart eyes atop a lime green heptagon. 

Making your power of attorney and advance healthcare directive forms can, in fact, be easy and fun. (Minus the existential crisis part, but there's nothing I can do about that.) Come see me at MaybeItsFate this month and I'll help you out!

#estateplanning #louisville #deathpositive

Money flutters across a lime green background. Beneath the logo for My Parents Are Dead: What Now? (a cartoon skull with heart eyes atop a lime green heptagon), black text reads: Death & Taxes: An Overview for Those Still Living. Tax season is here—and that goes for corpses, too. Do dead people have to pay taxes? Do you have to pay estate or inheritance taxes? Find out in what is surely the weirdest (and ideally the only) tax lecture you’ll attend this year. April 1, 2026 | 7-8pm ET | Online | $10 | Register: deadparentswhatnow.com/events

TOMORROW! I'm hosting an online talk about Ben Franklin's two certainties: Death & Taxes. Are taxes boring? Yes. Is death depressing? Yes. But here's the thing: I'm funny. Register: www.deadparentswhatnow.com/events/death...

#deathpositive #deathandtaxes #taxes #estateplanning

It’s the third anniversary of my father’s death and the weather is simply not cooperating. #deathpositive #grief #darkhumor

On a dark gray background, old-fashioned white and green text reads: "Does the family of the deceased have to pay for the burial vault on top of the casket and the plot and the headstone and everything else? Of course they do! Death cannot defy the demands of capitalism!" The Columbarium. deadparentswhatnow.com/newsletter

In tomorrow's edition of The Columbarium newsletter: Burial vaults. How did we end up with coffins for our coffins? Sign up to find out: deadparentswhatnow.com/newsletter

#newsletter #burial #funeral #deathpositive #burialvault #deatheducation

✨After someone dies, there are quiet moments most people never see.
✨Death care is sacred work.
#DeathDoula
#EndOfLifeCare
#HospiceCare
#DeathPositive
#MikeyTheDeathDoula

An illustration of a ribcage is just visible above a black background. On top of that, green and white text reads: What can you do with a dead body in Illinois? Traditional burial (check); Green burial (check); Fire cremation (check); Water cremation (check); Human composting (X); deadparentswhatnow.com

Living in Illinois? Here are the legal methods of disposition in your state as of March 2026.

#deathpositive #deatheducation #funeral #burial #cremation #aquamation #humancomposting #greenburial #illinois

On a dark gray background with black speckles, lime green and white text reads: "In the UK, it’s legal to DIY the entire funeral and burial process, including burying a body in your own garden (though the Natural Death Centre warns that a human corpse buried in the garden can reduce the value of your property by ‘between 20 percent and 50 percent’). I’d feel more comfortable about potentially being buried alive if I could simply grub up the top layer and pop back in through the living room window." - Naomi Westerman, Happy Death Club: Essays on Death, Grief & Bereavement Across Cultures.

I've really been enjoying Naomi Westerman's essay collection HAPPY DEATH CLUB. You should pick up a copy!

#deathpositive #bookstagram #bookrecommendation #grief #funeral #burial #cremation

Can I do that at my funeral? No, you cannot put your head on a stick. Sorry about that.

#deathpositive #funeral #darkhumor

My parents died and left me a mortgage, some guns and 34 decorative fish "My Parents Are Dead: What Now?" is a darkly funny guide to navigating grief and the paperwork that follows.

You can read an excerpt of my book “My Parents Are Dead: What Now? A Panic-Free Guide to the Practicalities of Death” now in @salon.com!
www.salon.com/2026/03/24/m... #deathpositive #estateplanning #books #grief

Calling all youngsters and the young at heart! The Grim Reaper is coming for you, too. Join me at one of TWO free webinars for the Funeral Consumers Alliance and its New Jersey affiliate this April! Details here: www.deadparentswhatnow.com/events #deathpositive #funeral #estateplanning #youth

On a lime green background, old-fashioned black text reads: Contrary to the allure of well-written courtroom dramas, actual courtrooms are boring. That’s why everyone tries to get out of jury duty. The Columbarium. deadparentswhatnow.com/newsletter

Skip probate court with this one weird trick. New issue of The Columbarium newsletter tomorrow! Sign up: deadparentswhatnow.com/newsletter

#deathpositive #estateplanning #probate #probatecourt #newsletter #nonprobatetrasnfer #willsandtrusts

Why would you use a Death Doula while on palliative care #MikeyTheDeathDoula #DeathDoula #PalliativeCare #DeathPositive

An illustration of a ribcage is just visible above a black background. On top of that, green and white text reads: What can you do with a dead body in Idaho? Traditional burial (check); Green burial (check); Fire cremation (check); Water cremation (check); Human composting (X); deadparentswhatnow.com

Living in Idaho? Here are the legal methods of disposition in your state as of March 2026.

#deathpositive #deatheducation #funeral #burial #cremation #aquamation #humancomposting #greenburial #idaho

On a black background, a lime green slot machine cartoon sparkles, displaying the numbers 82%. Above and below, green and white text reads: Nevada has the highest cremation rate in the United States! *According to 2025 Cremation Association of North America statistics. deadparentswhatnow.com

I lived in Las Vegas for a while, and somehow this doesn't surprise me.

#deathpositive #cremation #nevada #statistics #funeral

We are always here to advocate for you #MikeyTheDeathDoula #DeathDoula #EndOfLifeCare #Hospicr #DeathPositive

Buy the bleakest how-to guide of the year wherever books are sold! #deathpositive #books www.deadparentswhatnow.com/book

I hope they know how much I love and care for each and everyone of the souls I’ve help labor out of life 🫶 #MikeyTheDeathDoula #EndOfLifeCare #DeathPositive #Hospice

On a light gray background is what appears to be a Snellen eye test chart, where the letters begin big and become smaller each line. Only this eye chart reads: Cornea donations are common after death. At the top left is the logo for My Parents Are Dead: What Now? featuring a cartoon skull with heart eyes atop a lime green heptagon. At the bottom of the chart is a lime green line, and on the right side each line is numbered 1 through 8.

The nice thing about corneas is that it doesn't matter how old or sick you are—once you die, they can probably be transplanted into someone else who needs them.

#deathpositive #organdonation #corneadonation

$100 bills flutter across a lime green background. At the top is the logo for My Parents Are Dead: What Now? featuring a cartoon skull with heart eyes atop a lime green heptagon. Below, black and white text reads: Death & Taxes - An Overview for Those Still Living. Tax season is here—and that goes for corpses, too. Do dead people have to pay taxes? Do you have to pay estate or inheritance taxes? Find out in what is surely the weirdest (and ideally the only) tax lecture you'll attend this year. April 1, 2026 | 7-8pm ET | Online | $10. Register: deadparentswhatnow.com/events

Am I an accountant? No. An attorney? No. However, I have PLENTY of personal experience paying dead people's taxes. On April 1, let me give you a quick overview of what you're up against—and hopefully set your mind at ease. Register: www.deadparentswhatnow.com/events/death...
#deathpositive #taxes

This maybe taboo but it’s okay to exhale and feel relief without shame #MikeyTheDeathDoula #DeathDoula #DeathPositive #onthisday

If you're going to be there, come find me. If you're not, stay tuned. This week is going to be something. #Diversitech2026 #Caregiving #DeathPositive #WomenFounders