What Accounts and Bills to Cancel After Someone Dies

When you are figuring out what accounts and bills to cancel after someone dies, your instinct might be to cancel everything as fast as possible. Resist that impulse. Here is why:

• Recurring charges reveal unknown accounts. If you cancel a credit card before reviewing the statements, you may miss subscriptions that point to financial accounts, insurance policies, or memberships you did not know about.
• Some services protect the estate. Homeowner's insurance, security monitoring, and utilities at the deceased's property need to continue until the property is sold or transferred.
• Some accounts transfer, not cancel. Joint accounts, POD accounts, and accounts with named beneficiaries should be transferred to the appropriate person, not closed.

Best approach: Before canceling anything, review 3 months of bank and credit card statements. Make a complete list of every recurring charge. Then cancel in the priority order below.

Start with banks and financial institutions because they hold the estate's assets and are most at risk for unauthorized access:

• Banks (checking and savings). Present a death certificate and Letters Testamentary. Individual accounts will be frozen. Joint accounts should be retitled to the surviving owner. Ask about any automatic payments linked to these accounts.
• Investment and brokerage accounts. Same process. Request a statement showing the date-of-death value (this is critical for stepped-up basis calculations).
• Credit unions. Follow the same process as banks.
• Safe deposit box. Notify the bank. Access may require Letters Testamentary or a court order depending on your state.

What you need: Certified death certificate, Letters Testamentary (or Letters of Administration), your photo ID, and the account numbers if you have them.

• Credit cards. Call each issuer's customer service line. They will close the account and provide the final balance. This balance becomes a debt of the estate. Do not pay it from your personal funds. If you were an authorized user (not a joint account holder), you are not responsible for the balance.
• Auto loans. Contact the lender. If someone is inheriting the vehicle and wants to continue the loan, most lenders will work with you to transfer or refinance it.
• Personal loans. Notify each lender. These become debts of the estate.
• Mortgage. Do not stop making payments if someone is inheriting the home. Contact the lender to discuss options. Federal law prevents the lender from demanding full payment simply because the borrower died.

Most people don't know: If the deceased had credit card rewards points, many programs allow a surviving spouse or estate executor to redeem them before the account is closed. Ask when you call — these points are often worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.

• Social Security. Call 1-800-772-1213. Benefits must stop. Any payments received after the month of death must be returned.
• Medicare/Medicaid. Notify to stop billing. Medicare typically learns through the Social Security notification.
• Veterans Affairs. If the deceased was a veteran, call 1-800-827-1000 to stop benefits and inquire about burial benefits (up to $2,000 for service-related death, $300 for non-service-related).
• Pension plans. Contact each pension administrator. Ask about survivor benefits — many pensions continue at a reduced rate for surviving spouses.
• Driver's license. Notify your state's DMV to cancel the license. This helps prevent identity theft.
• Voter registration. Contact your county board of elections.
• Passport. Return to the U.S. Department of State or destroy it.

• Life insurance. Do not cancel — file a claim! Contact each insurance company with a death certificate. Benefits are typically paid within 30-60 days.
• Health insurance. If the deceased had individual coverage, cancel it. If a spouse or dependents were covered, explore COBRA (employer plans) or find new coverage through the Healthcare Marketplace.
• Auto insurance. If no one is using the vehicle, cancel the policy after the estate is settled. If someone inherits the car, transfer the policy. If the surviving spouse was on the same policy, remove the deceased and update the policy.
• Homeowner's/renter's insurance. Keep this active until the property is sold, transferred, or vacated. An uninsured property is a major liability.
• Long-term care insurance. If the deceased had a policy, file a claim for any outstanding benefits.

• Electric, gas, water. Transfer to a surviving household member or keep active until the property is resolved. Do not let these lapse on an occupied property.
• Phone and internet. Cancel the deceased's cell phone plan but keep the number temporarily (you may need it for two-factor authentication on their accounts). Transfer home internet if someone still lives there.
• Cable/streaming. Cancel services tied to the deceased. Transfer shared accounts to a surviving family member.
• Storage units. Do not cancel without checking the contents. Pay to keep the unit until you can inventory what is inside.
• Lawn care, cleaning, pest control. Cancel if the property is vacant. Keep if it is occupied or needs to be maintained for sale.

• Gym memberships. Contact the gym with a death certificate. Most will cancel without early termination fees.
• Streaming services. Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, etc. Check for family plans that others rely on.
• Magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Cancel or request refunds for unused portions.
• Professional memberships. Bar associations, trade groups, alumni organizations.
• Amazon Prime, Costco, warehouse clubs. Cancel and request prorated refunds.
• Software subscriptions. Adobe, Microsoft 365, cloud storage, password managers.
• Charitable donations. Cancel recurring donations unless the estate or family wishes to continue them.

Chances are there are accounts and subscriptions you are not aware of. Here is how to find them:

• Pull a credit report. You can request a free credit report for a deceased person from each of the three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) by sending a written request with a death certificate.
• Review 3 months of bank and credit card statements. Every recurring charge is a clue.
• Check email. Search for "subscription," "receipt," "payment," "renewal," "account," and "confirmation."
• Monitor the mailbox. Continue checking mail for at least 6 months. Bills, statements, and collection notices will reveal accounts you missed.
• Check the phone. Look at apps on the deceased's phone — each app may represent an account or subscription.
• Search your state's unclaimed property database. Visit missingmoney.com or your state treasurer's website.

Most people don't know: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners operates a free Life Insurance Policy Locator at eapps.naic.org/orphanedpolicy. You submit the deceased's information and participating insurance companies check their records. It takes about 90 days to get results, but it has helped families find millions in unclaimed policies.

Deceased people are prime targets for identity thieves. Take these steps to protect your loved one's identity:

• Place a deceased alert with all three credit bureaus. Send a death certificate to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
• Opt out of pre-screened credit offers. Call 1-888-567-8688 or visit optoutprescreen.com.
• Monitor the credit report for at least a year after death for new inquiries or accounts.
• Shred sensitive documents rather than throwing them away.
• Notify the IRS. Send a copy of the death certificate to prevent fraudulent tax returns from being filed in the deceased's name.