LumenUs Uses AI to Cut 570 Hours of Paperwork After a Death
LumenUs uses AI to cut the 570-hour burden of settling a loved one's affairs, prioritizing tasks, forms and claims after a death before its October launch.
Summary
Eight years after Sara Tashakorinia’s husband died in a car accident, she founded LumenUs in 2025 to automate the administrative work that follows a death. Settling a loved one’s affairs takes roughly 570 hours on average, burdening millions annually with tax forms, insurance claims and bank closures while they grieve. Tashakorinia also faced a funeral home’s 300% casket markup. LumenUs initially targets the immediate aftermath of death, although she ultimately wants it to support lifelong grieving.
Onboarding gathers details about the death, users’ legal and financial circumstances, and their state of mind. AI then personalizes and prioritizes tasks by urgency, automates work where possible and may identify overlooked money, including life insurance benefits, billions of dollars of which remain unclaimed. Tashakorinia brings a cybersecurity background to a platform handling sensitive personal and financial data. She is building it with Sajad Mirzaei, a former Google and Box engineer, and Larry Keeley, an innovation scientist, professor and entrepreneur. Clinicians and social workers are advising product tests. LumenUs is participating in Startup Battlefield 200 and plans early access in October 2026.
Positives
- 570 hours of average estate administration could be reduced by automating forms, insurance claims and bank closures.
- Billions of dollars in unclaimed life insurance benefits could become easier for eligible families to identify.
- AI prioritizes urgent obligations while separating tasks that can safely wait.
- Sara Tashakorinia’s cybersecurity background supports development of a platform handling sensitive financial and personal information.
- Clinicians and social workers are advising LumenUs while the team tests the product.
- October 2026 early access will move LumenUs from testing toward use by grieving families.
Risks & concerns
- Millions of people annually face roughly 570 hours of administrative work after losing someone close.
- Billions of dollars in life insurance benefits remain unclaimed because potential beneficiaries may not know they exist.
- LumenUs asks users for highly sensitive legal, financial and emotional information, making security essential.
- A funeral home charged Sara Tashakorinia a 300% markup on a casket after her husband’s death.
- Early access initially addresses only the immediate aftermath of death, while lifelong grief support remains a future goal.