Plain-language explainer, not legal advice. Operated by Record of Sale LLC. Published October 25, 2026.
No family should find out a year later that someone they love has died. Yet that is what happened to California families whose relatives died in hospital care while no one picked up the phone. In September 2026 the Legislature and Governor answered with Assembly Bill 2598, which takes effect January 1, 2027. It gives hospitals and skilled nursing facilities a clear duty: make a documented, good-faith attempt to reach known next of kin within 72 hours of a death. When no family can be found, they must notify the county public administrator within two business days. Next of Kin Notice is a service built to help facilities meet that duty carefully, consistently, and with a record that can be checked.
The Law in Plain English
The basics
- Bill: Assembly Bill 2598, authored by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento).
- Status: Approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on September 27, 2026. Chapter 627, Statutes of 2026.
- Effective date: January 1, 2027 (a regular, non-urgency statute).
- What it changes: It adds Health and Safety Code §1280.7 and Probate Code §7600.4, and amends Probate Code §7600.5.
- Official text: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov — AB 2598
Who it covers
The law applies to the licensee of a general acute care hospital or a skilled nursing facility, as defined in Health and Safety Code §1250(a) and (c). It also covers a hospital that receives a person's body after death. In that case the hospital must try to tell known next of kin that it is holding the body. Deaths of people in state prison custody follow separate Penal Code rules. Other facilities, such as board and care homes, stay under Probate Code §7600.5.
The core duty: a "reasonable attempt" within 72 hours
The facility must make a reasonable attempt to notify any known next of kin that the person died. The statute defines a reasonable attempt as a documented, good-faith effort to contact known next of kin within 72 hours of death, using any contact information the facility has at the time. That includes speaking to the next of kin by phone or leaving a voicemail and, if available, sending a text message or an email (Prob. Code §7600.4(d)(3)).
Who counts as "known next of kin"
A known next of kin is a relative by blood, marriage, or registered domestic partnership. They must have been identified to the facility by the person or the person's representative, or through information in the person's belongings (H&S Code §1280.7(e)).
The duty can also be met if a skilled nursing facility notifies the person's designated resident representative. It is also met if the person told the facility in writing, before death, that they did not want their known next of kin notified.
When no family can be found
If a reasonable attempt fails, the facility must notify the county public administrator within two business days. The notice should include whatever identifying information is available, such as the decedent's full legal name, identification numbers, last known address, and contact details for any known next of kin.
Penalties
- Failing to make a reasonable attempt: a continuing civil penalty of $200 per day, up to $50,000. It runs from the time a reasonable attempt should have been made until the next of kin actually learns of the death (H&S Code §1280.7(a)).
- Failing to notify the public administrator: $200 per day, up to $50,000, running from the fifth business day after the death until the public administrator is notified (§1280.7(b)).
- Civil liability: if the required public administrator notice isn't given, the facility is also liable for interment costs and for resulting losses to the estate or beneficiaries (Prob. Code §7600.4(b)).
- Appeals: a licensee may request a hearing within 10 working days of receiving notice of a penalty (§1280.7(c)).
Why This Law Exists
AB 2598 grew out of reporting on what KCRA called the "Dignity Delayed" investigation. That reporting found families who learned of a relative's death in hospital care months, or even a year, after it happened, and found that county public administrators were not told in time. One mother, Ginger Congi, said she did not learn of her daughter's death until a year later. When the bill was signed, she said she was "relieved to tears" (KCRA).
Before AB 2598, California law already required immediate notice to the public administrator when a person died without known next of kin. What it lacked was a defined standard for reaching families, a clock, and a meaningful penalty. The new law adds all three. It also changes what facilities need to keep: a record of what was tried, when, and through which channel. Without that record, a facility can't easily show that its staff acted in good faith.
Why Next of Kin Notice Exists
Notifying a family of a death is among the hardest tasks in health care. It usually falls to busy staff: a charge nurse at the end of a shift, a social worker covering two units, or a house supervisor on a weekend. Phone numbers on file go stale. Voicemails go unreturned. A note in one system never reaches the person on the next shift. None of this requires bad intent to go wrong, and AB 2598 now attaches a daily penalty when it does.
Next of Kin Notice exists to make the process calm, consistent, and documented. It does not replace the human conversation. Your staff still share the news. What it handles is the scheduling, the follow-through, and the record.
How the Service Works
1. Case intake
A staff member opens a case once. They record the time of death, any known next of kin and the contact details on file. Written opt-outs and designated resident representatives are captured at the same time, because the law treats them as alternate ways to meet the duty.
2. Outreach within the 72-hour window
The service runs a schedule of phone calls with a gentle voicemail, followed by a text and an email where those are available. This mirrors the channels the statute names. The messages are intentionally limited: they ask the family to call the facility. Details of the death are never put in a voicemail, text or email. Facility staff share them directly.
3. A timestamped audit log
Every call, voicemail, text, email and outcome is logged with a timestamp. The record can be exported as a PDF if the California Department of Public Health asks how the attempt was made.
4. The public administrator notice
If no next of kin is located, the service pre-fills the county public administrator notice from the case. It covers all 58 California counties and tracks the notice against the two-business-day window. Staff review and send it, so a person stays accountable for the final step.
Current status
Next of Kin Notice is in early access. It is not yet processing real cases. A sample demo, using sample data only, shows the workflow without sending anything. Production use requires a signed HIPAA Business Associate Agreement.
Privacy and Security
Protecting families and patients
Death notifications involve protected health information and grieving people. The service is built around a few firm rules: - Outreach messages don't contain details of the death. - Email is not treated as a secure channel for health information. Facilities are asked to use the secure portal or call 1-833-566-8423 instead. - Production use happens under a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement.
A record that can't be quietly changed: Bitcoin-anchored hashing
If a regulator, an attorney or a family ever asks, "When did you actually try to call?", the answer has to be trustworthy. Next of Kin Notice makes its record tamper-evident with cryptography anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain.
An append-only, hash-chained ledger. Every action on a case is written to an append-only ledger. Each entry gets a SHA-256 fingerprint that also covers the entry before it. If anyone changes a past entry, every fingerprint after it stops matching.
Anchored to Bitcoin. About every six hours, the service combines all new entry fingerprints into a Merkle tree. It then writes the tree's 32-byte root into a Bitcoin transaction that it signs and pays for itself. The root sits in an OP_RETURN output tagged NOK1. Once that transaction is in a block, the block's time is the latest moment the entry could have been created. After that, no one, including the operator, can change the entry without the mismatch showing.
A second, independent proof. Every 30 minutes the same kind of root is also sent to the public OpenTimestamps calendars, which commit it to Bitcoin as well. A standard .ots proof file is available for the open-source ots verify tool.
Nothing private goes on-chain. Only hashes leave the database. Names, medical details and family information are never published. The public verify page and proof file show only the document type, the facility, the times and the hashes.
Anyone can check it. Each document carries a QR code that opens its verification page. From there, a reviewer can download the proof, recompute the hash, follow the Merkle path and find the transaction on any public block explorer, such as mempool.space or blockstream.info, or on their own Bitcoin node. They don't need to trust us. The math either matches or it doesn't.
Who It's For
Hospitals and skilled nursing facilities
This is the primary audience. Licensees of general acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities carry the AB 2598 duty starting January 1, 2027. Next of Kin Notice gives administrators, compliance officers, social workers and nursing leadership a single, repeatable process and an evidence trail.
Multi-facility health systems
Systems running several California hospitals or nursing facilities need the same standard at every site. A shared workflow and exportable logs make that consistency visible.
County public administrators
Public administrators get timely, complete notices. Each notice is structured, pre-filled and tracked against the deadline, so they aren't left piecing together a case weeks later.
Families
Families are the reason the law exists. Next of Kin Notice is built so the call comes sooner, the message is gentle, and a human being is waiting to talk with them when they call back.
A note on coroners and law enforcement
AB 2598 governs hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. It does not change the separate death notification duties of coroners, medical examiners or law enforcement. For example, in 2025 AB 1269 ("Wakiesha's Law") set a 24-hour notice rule for deaths in county and city jails. Next of Kin Notice is designed around the AB 2598 facility duty.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does AB 2598 take effect?
January 1, 2027. It was approved by the Governor on September 27, 2026 as Chapter 627, Statutes of 2026.
Who wrote AB 2598?
Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento).
How long does a facility have to try to reach family?
The statute defines a reasonable attempt as a documented, good-faith effort within 72 hours of death, by phone or voicemail and, where available, by text or email.
What if no family can be found?
The facility must notify the county public administrator within two business days.
What are the penalties?
Up to $200 per day, capped at $50,000, for each type of failure. A facility can also be liable for interment costs and losses to the estate if the public administrator notice isn't given.
Does Next of Kin Notice tell families about the death by text?
No. Messages only ask the family to call the facility. Facility staff share the details.
Is patient information put on the blockchain?
No. Only SHA-256 hashes are anchored to Bitcoin. Names and medical details never leave the protected database.
Can a regulator verify the record without trusting you?
Yes. Every document links to a public proof that anyone can check against the Bitcoin blockchain with standard tools.
Is it available now?
It's in early access and not yet processing real cases. You can try the sample demo or request early access.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is a plain-language summary. Read the full bill text and confirm your obligations with counsel.
Get Ready Before January 1, 2027
AB 2598 starts the clock at the moment of death. Facilities that set up their process now will be ready on day one. They'll have a gentle outreach schedule, a timestamped record and a public administrator notice that doesn't slip through the cracks.
Request early access or try the sample demo to see how Next of Kin Notice can help your team reach families with care and prove it was done.
Sources: AB 2598 bill text, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov; California Hospital Association, AB 2598; KCRA, "Newsom signs next of kin hospital notification bill into law"; AB 1269 bill text.