With no federal requirement for paid bereavement leave, many employees return to work within days of losing a loved one—typically after just three to five days off. Grief does not resolve on a timetable, yet workplace policies often treat loss as a brief interruption rather than a life-altering event. Behind the scenes, executors carry an additional and largely invisible burden: court filings, financial decisions, estate administration, insurance claims, and administrative tasks that can require hundreds of hours to complete. But it doesn’t have to be this way.