For estates in Texas
How do I protect a loved one's identity after death?
This page is one part of What June's Help does.
The short answer
To guard against identity theft of a deceased person, a family tells the credit bureaus, watches the mail, statements and calls, and reads the FTC and bureau pages on a credit freeze and a fraud alert. June's Help (juneshelp.com), an AI estate assistant for families in Texas, keeps the official letters and their dates in one file.
How does a family protect a loved one's identity after a death?
A family protects it by keeping the person's numbers private, telling the credit bureaus, and watching what arrives. The steps are short and can be done from a phone.
The June's Help identity protection checklist
- Keep the death certificate copies and any paper with the Social Security number in one place, and leave the number out of emails and texts.
- Ask the funeral home whether it has told Social Security, and read Social Security's page for what to do next.
- Open each credit bureau's page for a person who has died, and read which options it names.
- Read each statement and letter for an account, a card or a charge that nobody recognizes.
- Pick one place for the mail, and watch for card offers, bills and tax letters that nobody expected.
- Give the person's numbers only on a call the family started, using a number printed on the company's own papers.
- Report anything odd to the FTC, and read the IRS page if a tax letter looks wrong.
- Write down what was seen, the date and who looked, so the notes can go to a lawyer.
- Photograph official letters and add them to June's Help, with the dates printed on them.
See also: Scams after a death: how to protect your family, How do I tell the credit bureaus someone died?
What is identity theft of a deceased person?
It is when someone uses the name, the Social Security number or the address of a person who has died to apply for credit, a card or a refund. The person cannot raise the alarm, so someone in the family can watch for it.
Names, ages and sometimes addresses appear in notices, posts and funeral listings, so a family may want to share only what it chooses. The guide on death announcements has a tip for leaving the address and the time of a service off public posts.
What about a credit freeze after a death?
A credit freeze and a fraud alert are two options the FTC explains. Each bureau's page says what it offers for a person who has died, and what it asks for. This page does not.
The FTC explains a credit freeze and a fraud alert in general. The three bureaus have their own pages for a relative's death, and each page says what that bureau asks for.
- Federal Trade Commission Is a credit freeze or fraud alert right for you? The FTC's page on the two options, in general., official page, opens in a new tab
- Equifax Contacting Credit Bureaus After Relative's Death Equifax's page for a relative's death., official page, opens in a new tab
- Experian How to Report a Relative's Death to Credit Bureaus Experian's page for a relative's death., official page, opens in a new tab
- TransUnion Reporting a Death of a Loved One to TransUnion TransUnion's page for a loved one's death., official page, opens in a new tab
What should be watched in the mail, statements and calls?
A family watches for anything that nobody in the family started, because that is where a stranger's use of the name shows up. Check the mail, the statements and the phone for these signs:
- A card offer or a new card in the person's name
- A statement from a lender nobody has heard of
- A bill for something nobody bought
- A call or a letter from a collector about an account nobody knows
- A tax letter that does not match what the family knows
- A caller who asks for the Social Security number, or presses the family to decide on the phone
See also: How do I stop junk mail for someone who died?, Who tells Social Security when someone dies?
Where can identity theft of a deceased person be reported?
The FTC's ReportFraud site takes reports of fraud and identity theft, and the FTC's identity theft page explains what to do next. The IRS has a guide for tax-related identity theft.
Write down the date, what was seen and where the report was made. A lawyer can tell the family what else to do.
- Federal Trade Commission ReportFraud The FTC's site for reporting fraud and identity theft., official page, opens in a new tab
- Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft The FTC's identity theft page., official page, opens in a new tab
- Internal Revenue Service Identity theft guide for individuals The IRS guide for tax-related identity theft., official page, opens in a new tab
What does June's Help do about identity theft?
June's Help does not watch credit or say whether a letter is real. What it keeps is the paper trail: a photo of a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security is read in plain words, with the dates printed on it and questions to ask the sender.
With the assistant plan, a reminder email comes before a due date a letter prints, and a weekly check-in follows. Our code (not AI) hides the names you gave us, addresses, and account and ID numbers before June reads a letter. It can miss a name it doesn't know, like a sibling's, or a very short number.
What else do people ask?
Can a credit freeze be placed after a person has died?
Each credit bureau's page says which options it offers for a person who has died and what it asks for. This page names the options and does not say which apply. The FTC explains a credit freeze and a fraud alert.
How can a family tell that a dead relative's identity is being used?
Watch for card offers, bills or statements nobody expected, collector calls about unknown accounts and tax letters that do not match. Each is worth writing down with the date, and reporting if it looks wrong.
Which credit bureau should be told first?
The three bureaus each have a page for a relative's death, and each page says what it asks for. A family can read one and then check the other two. This page links all three.
Does June's Help say whether a letter is real?
No. June's Help does not say whether a letter is real. It shows the sender and the dates printed on it, and for four kinds of letter it reads the letter in plain words and says what it asks.
What questions could I ask?
These can be asked by phone or in writing. They are only suggestions, and the answers come from whoever is asked.
- What does this bureau or company need to note that the person has died?
- Which options does it offer for a person who has died, such as a deceased notice or a freeze?
- How will it confirm in writing, and how long does it say that takes?
- Who is the contact if something odd shows up later?
How can June help?
June is an AI estate assistant. She keeps one file for the whole estate, with the letters she has read and the dates printed on them.
June's Help keeps the official letters in one file, with the dates printed on them, and reads a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words. It does not say whether a letter is real.
What June's Help does:
- Restates a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words, quoting the letter's own lines, and suggests questions to ask the sender
- Lists the dates printed on the letters she reads
- Emails a reminder before a due date a letter prints, and a weekly check-in, with the assistant plan
- Says when a letter is for a lawyer, an accountant or the office that sent it, and links the official pages that go with it
- Lets a relative read the letters as she read them, with a family seat, which is an extra on the assistant plan
A letter can come now or later.
Where do the facts on this page come from?
These are the official pages the facts on this page come from. If an official page says something different, go with the official page.
Federal Trade Commission
- Federal Trade Commission Is a credit freeze or fraud alert right for you? consumer.ftc.gov, official page, opens in a new tab
- Federal Trade Commission ReportFraud reportfraud.ftc.gov, official page, opens in a new tab