Relieving the Administrative Burden of Grief with AI
When Sara Tashakorinia’s husband tragically died in a car accident eight years ago, she faced not only the emotional devastation of loss but also an overwhelming flood of paperwork. On average, settling a loved one’s affairs takes roughly 570 hours, according to data from EstateExec. For millions each year, this tedious administrative process compounds the pain of bereavement.
“The day your loved one passes away, you also get this honorary badge of a project manager for a project you had no idea about, trying to navigate something and learn something when you literally have zero information,” Tashakorinia shared in an interview with TechCrunch. This stark reality inspired her to seek a solution that could ease the bureaucratic load on grieving families.
Introducing LumenUs: AI-Powered Grief Care
After years of volunteering to support others through the labyrinth of post-loss administrative tasks, Tashakorinia realized that artificial intelligence could play a role—not in the emotional healing, but in handling the most mechanical parts of the process. Tasks such as locating the right tax forms, filing insurance claims, and closing bank accounts can be automated to save precious time and reduce stress.
The result is LumenUs, a grief care platform founded last year. The startup’s mission is to alleviate the burdensome paperwork and help grieving families regain control during an incredibly difficult time.
“I think going through it, your threshold of pain is so high, and you’re so lost that you don’t really realize, why do people treat you this way? Why was I left with a stack of paperwork, and why was the funeral home charging me a 300% markup on a casket?” Tashakorinia reflected, highlighting the opaque and often exploitative nature of the aftermath of death.
Personalized Support When It Matters Most
While Tashakorinia envisions LumenUs eventually providing support throughout the lifelong journey of grief, the platform’s initial focus is on the immediate aftermath of a death. Upon joining, users undergo an onboarding process that gathers detailed information about their unique circumstances.
“We are asking very specific questions to understand the legal and financial means, and their state of mind, and this is only to personalize who they are, and then personalizing what happened,” she explained. This tailored approach allows LumenUs to organize tasks by urgency, helping users prioritize what must be done immediately versus what can wait.
Importantly, LumenUs can also uncover unclaimed benefits. It is estimated that billions of dollars in life insurance benefits go unclaimed yearly because people are unaware of their entitlements. By navigating these complexities, LumenUs offers not only guidance but potential financial relief.
Security and Expertise at the Core
With a background in cybersecurity, Tashakorinia is well-equipped to build a platform that demands the utmost trust, as users share highly sensitive personal and financial data. She leads LumenUs alongside co-founders Sajad Mirzaei, a former engineer at Google and Box, and Larry Keeley, an innovation scientist and entrepreneur. The team is also consulting clinicians and social workers to ensure the product is both practical and empathetic.
LumenUs was selected to participate in this year’s Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt, scheduled for October 13-15 in San Francisco. The platform is set to launch in early access this October, promising to revolutionize how families handle the administrative challenges of loss.
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